


Quotidian Solicitude

by Mistreve



Series: Quotidian Affections [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose, F/F, Gender Dysphoria, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Other, Slow Burn, Trans Character, Trans Female Character, Trans Male Character, Weiss Schnee Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:27:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 38,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27565993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mistreve/pseuds/Mistreve
Summary: (Alternate title: How Much Meddling Is Too Much)Working in a small bookstore, living out of a suitcase on her supervisor's couch, and separated from her only supportive family member, Weiss Schnee struggled to meet expectations of where she should have been in life in her early twenties. Yang Xiao Long lived in a small house on her parents' property, worked in the family restaurant, and hung out with friends without much direction in her life. Life for both of them could be worse, but maybe... Just maybe... It doesn't turn out that way.A slow burn Freezerburn fic in a modern setting with eventual romance and fluff.(Contains trans!Weiss, nonbinary!Blake, nonbinary!Ren, trans!Qrow, and more!)
Relationships: Ilia Amitola/Blake Belladonna, Jaune Arc/Neptune Vasilias/Sun Wukong, Lie Ren/Pyrrha Nikos/Nora Valkyrie, Qrow Branwen/Taiyang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen/Summer Rose, Weiss Schnee/Yang Xiao Long
Series: Quotidian Affections [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2074854
Comments: 35
Kudos: 64





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> There's going to be... Well, a lot in this story. Yay for having an outlet in this time of quarantine when in-person therapy is a no-go!
> 
> Anyway, first chapter is a shorter one.

“I can’t believe you’re saying I should, too,” Weiss huffed while she loaded up a cart with books to re-shelf. “You and Pyrrha seem to be conspiring, I swear.” She kept adding books from around the register area to the cart, cleaning up. The evening was setting in and the sky dimmed considerably. With the end of her shift at the bookstore fast approaching, Weiss was hoping to be done with the day, but it seemed both Pyrrha and Blake had other ideas for her. 

“Look, all I’m saying is it wouldn’t be a bad thing for you to hang out with Pyrrha more. She invited you because she thinks you’ll have a good time,” Blake shrugged. Weiss sighed and rolled her eyes at the comment and turned to push the cart to the aisles and start putting the books away. Blake did a once over of the front area and followed behind to help. “I’ll even do your makeup.”

Weiss groaned and stopped, turning around to look at Blake. “Will you feel better if I go for a little bit?”

“I would,” Blake smiled. 

“Fine. Two hours. I’ll go and hang out for two hours and if I’m not having a good time, I’ll come back home,” she relented. “But we both know I can’t drink, so a party isn’t my ‘thing’ to start with,” Weiss added. “And… you know how I feel around strangers.” The last part was said with a hushed tone that really conveyed her insecurity. “I don’t know all of the people who will be there, and don’t know if they’ll be okay with…” she trailed off and waved a hand to motion at herself. 

“Listen,” Blake stopped her. “You may not know them, but they’re friends with Pyrrha, or Nora, or Ren, and I’m positive they wouldn’t let anyone like that at their party. We both know how vocal Nora is about this stuff. And if what you’ve said before is even half true, she would fight someone to protect her friends,” Blake smirked. “Besides, you can’t spend all your free time on the couch.”

“I know! I know I can’t live on my boss’ couch forever. It’s just hard finding more work to afford anything else,” Weiss sighed. 

“Okay, first, I’m just shift manager. I’m barely above you. And second, I’m not worried about that. I told you, you can stay as long as you want. It’s actually nice having someone else there,” Blake smiled and picked up a stack of books, walking down an aisle to begin putting them away. They looked back at Weiss who did the same and followed them with the cart. “But you also knew what I meant with that. The whole depressed princess vibe you have isn’t good for you. You need to do something other than mope about on your phone with your headphones. ”

Weiss snorted. “Even if I didn’t go through with being me, we both know I was not even my father’s first choice for an heir. Not when my brother was always his favorite the moment he was born.” 

“Again, you know what I meant,” Blake chided, stopping their work and turning to stare at Weiss. 

“I do,” Weiss sighed. “And alright. I’ll go to Pyrrha’s party tonight. Not that either of you seem to give me much choice in these matters.”

“We do it because we care,” Blake smirked. “Once we finish this cart, we can just go.” They returned to shelving books and humming along with the music playing over the store’s speakers while Weiss nodded and continued alongside them. 

Weiss’ mind wandered the entire time and she thought of how much she wasn’t looking forward to going to a party of all things. Her day had already been stressful enough with work and a few less than polite customers, and one going so far as to misgender her and make rude comments to the person they went through the checkout line with. Even though it happened less and less, it still got to her every time. Though, growing up in the Schnee household, keeping a polite expression was second nature despite everything going on, or… It was. The years spent away from her parents had been quite liberating for Weiss, and a lot of past traumas had been unpacked and, with the help of her therapist and psychiatrist, things were being addressed. She felt it was so slow-moving and felt frustrated with herself a lot of the time. Especially with how well adjusted her sister, Winter, seemed to be after everything. Five more years of being away from the family seemed to make a large difference, though, and Weiss was sure Winter had struggled enough on her own. 

She sighed and felt Blake’s hand touch her shoulder, breaking her out of her thoughts. Her ability to keep her emotions hidden from her expressions definitely slipped in the years away from her family. 

“You okay?” Blake asked.

“Yeah, just… rough day,” Weiss mumbled. “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

Blake gazed at her a moment and Weiss could see from the way their eyes looked into hers that they weren’t entirely convinced with what Weiss had said. “Alright, well, put those last two back and I’ll head back to hit the lights.”

Weiss nodded with an affirmative hum as she turned back to the shelves to look for the last spots. 

  


* * *

  


Weiss spun in a circle in front of the mirror. She had to admit that at least below the neck she looked alright. She wasn’t exactly a model or what she would call beautiful, but the dress she picked for the evening definitely worked with her figure to give it a few more curves where there usually weren’t any. 

It had taken her a total of two minutes to pick out the dress from her wardrobe considering she only had three options for dresses. The single suitcase she had with clothes in it contained her entire wardrobe. Three dresses, two of which were pale blue and one in white. A pair of black jeans. Two black skirts she wore for work. Two buttoned blouses, one in blue and the other in white. And finally her socks and undergarments. To accompany this, she had two pairs of shoes. A pair of flats, and a pair of low heels. 

When she abruptly left her old house, leaving her unsupportive family behind, Weiss had little in the way of clothing she felt was suitable for her. Everything left behind felt restrictive, uncomfortable, and wholly wrong. The roles her father tried to force her into, the masculine roles that he tried his damnedest to shove at her, none of it went with her. 

Stepping out of the bathroom, Weiss sucked her bottom lip and spun in another circle for Blake to get a second opinion. Blake already knew the extent of Weiss’ limited wardrobe, so these fashion displays were more for Weiss’ benefit and confidence than any actual idea gathering. Still, Weiss always wanted that second opinion and small rush of comfort that came with getting an approval from her roommate, if Blake could be called that. Weiss didn’t know what crashing on their couch made them to her, but roommate seemed most appropriate. Though technically above her in the hierarchy, Blake really wasn’t her actual boss, so saying roommate was entirely more accurate than saying she was living with her boss. 

“You look great, Weiss,” Blake told her and motioned for her to come closer. “Would you like me to braid your hair?”

“Yes, please,” Weiss smiled and quickly shuffled over, sitting down on the couch next to Blake, turning her back to them. She would never admit it to Blake, but she felt that they already knew how much she liked having her hair played with and brushed, and braided. She had found that out years before when in high school. It wasn’t a particularly special memory, but it stuck with her for whatever reason. The bad mood she was in, leaning her face forward onto her desk, and one of her friends turning to see how she was doing. They had teasingly run their fingers through her hair and Weiss could always remember the goosebumps it rose on her neck. The same type of goosebumps that rose over her neck when Blake brushed her hair and began braiding it. 

“Tonight’s going to go fine, you know,” Blake spoke while she continued the braid she was making.

“I hope so,” Weiss sighed. 

“It will. Now shush. Almost done, then we can do your makeup.” Blake finished the braid and tied it off, the hair tie they used a pale blue to match Weiss’ dress and eyes. They got up and motioned for Weiss to follow them into the bathroom. “Take a seat on the edge of the tub,” they told her while rifling through a drawer for their makeup bag. 

Weiss did as asked and sat down, closing her eyes as she sat tall and proper. Having Blake apply her makeup was also something comforting to her, the attention and care made her feel, in some ways, more validated in her identity. If she was going to have a terrible time that night, at least she would look a bit more presentable, even if she didn’t feel it. The mirror, as always, was rather unsupportive, but she learned to trust the judgment of those around her. Weiss inwardly sighed since that wasn’t entirely accurate. She knew that her friends wouldn’t fully lie to her, but she also didn’t trust them to tell her the absolute truth when it came to her appearance. Maybe she projected her insecurities, maybe growing up the way she did with her parents and their snide comments about trans people in general settled a bit too far into her brain, maybe it was a lot of things. She only knew she wasn’t confident with her body despite what others told her. 

“And done,” Blake hummed. 

“Already?” Weiss asked, surprised it was already over. She didn’t think she got so lost in her thoughts but, apparently, she had. “Thank you,” she smiled.

“Of course,” Blake grinned. “Check it out.”

The mirror did seem to complement Blake’s work nicely, Weiss had to admit. She turned her head from side to side, checking her cheekbones and jaw, her eyes, nose, eyebrows. They all looked… acceptable. “Thank you,” she smiled and turned to Blake. “Amazing, as always.” 

“Good. Now, go check your phone. I’m pretty sure you got a message while we were getting you ready,” Blake smirked.

“Alright, alright,” Weiss sighed and fetched her phone to find a message from Pyrrha saying she was below. “Oh, she’s here already,” she said, turning to Blake. “Um, I’ve gotta go. I’ll be back later.”

“Go, try and have fun, you’ll be fine,” Blake reminded her.

Weiss sighed and grabbed her purse before heading to the door. “Alright,” she mumbled to herself as she left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I am with another fic to pour myself into!  
> I swear, I don't have a problem. I do words for fun.  
> Let me have my 3 AUs with a fourth and fifth on the back burners. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this~!  
> There will definitely be more to come.
> 
> And if you haven't checked them out, I have one complete story (Sanative Empathy) that has a sequel in the works, and another one in the midst of uploading (Esoteric Banalities), if you want more of my writing!
> 
> Also, thanks go to [Sable](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celeritous) for proofreading this all!


	2. Chapter 2

Pyrrha parked her car in the apartment complex guest parking while she waited for Weiss to get ready. She knew it could take a few minutes for the girl to be ready to leave, but she didn’t mind the wait. It was reassuring to know that Weiss had decided she would actually go. Even though she didn’t speak with Blake often, Pyrrha knew they had been looking out for Weiss, too. She regretted not being able to take Weiss in after everything with her parents during that last year of college they had, but at least Blake was there to step up. Her house already had three people living there, and only one bedroom. Plus, being so far from the city would have made Weiss more dependent on her, or Ren, or Nora to get into town. 

Her thoughts were broken by a flash of brilliant white hair exiting the building and she started her car up again when Weiss noticed her. 

“There you are,” Weiss smiled as she got in the car, shifting on the seat to smooth her dress out before buckling in. 

“Here I am,” Pyrrha laughed. “You all set?”

“As set as I’m going to be,” Weiss sighed and forced a smile. 

Pyrrha had learned to spot the fake smiles of Weiss’ fairly early on and made a mental note of this one. She pulled out of the parking lot and turned the stereo on to play for some background noise. “It’ll be fun. I made sure Nora grabbed that soda you like, so we’ve got plenty there. And Ren always has tea on hand.” A quick glance told Pyrrha that Weiss was only partially listening. She looked to be staring out the window and Pyrrha inwardly sighed, hoping this would be a good idea. The girl she went to school with before seemed to be slipping away and it worried her. Even if they were destined to drift apart, it still made her sad that her friend seemed to be turning inward and isolating so much. 

“Mm,” Weiss hummed. “Thank you,” she said and turned her attention to Pyrrha.

“And you know I don’t drink much, and Ren doesn’t either. Whenever you want to leave later, one of us can give you a ride,” Pyrrha reassured Weiss. Her passenger hummed in acknowledgment and offered another forced smile before staring out the window again. She didn’t know what to do so she reached to turn the stereo volume up and focus on driving. Or… try to.

The parties that Nora insisted on having weren’t really Pyrrha’s favorite of her get-togethers. She much preferred the movie nights, or the barbecue nights, or even the slow cooker extreme slow-cook-a-thon that Nora invented which simply consisted of people setting up a dozen slow cookers in the morning and having a huge feast that night. And of course, there was the annual pancake showdown which, similar to the slow cooker extreme slow-cook-a-thon, consisted of people making tons of food and eating until everyone fell asleep on the floor and every piece of furniture. Pyrrha didn’t really mind that one, either. The general parties, though? Not so much. Loud music and alcohol weren’t Pyrrha’s idea of fun, and neither was the cleanup that always needed to be done the next day. At least bringing Weiss along for it would make things better. It really had been a while since they spent much time together, and since Pyrrha and Ren couldn’t skip out on the event their girlfriend was throwing, they both elected to try and bring friends to make it more tolerable. 

The traffic thinned out considerably once the car passed the city limits and pulled onto a private road. Being out of the city had its advantages, like the quiet at night and the lack of immediate neighbors. It definitely made the events Nora hosted less awkward since there wasn’t much risk of having authorities called for noise complaints if they kept the excitement inside. Trees lined the driveway that Pyrrha turned down and at the end sat the house she rented with Nora and Ren. Cars already filled the driveway and Pyrrha elected to park a ways back so she wouldn’t be blocked in. She figured Ren would do the same when they got back after work since it seemed to be standard protocol for these events. 

Shutting the car off, Pyrrha turned to Weiss and saw her nervously clutching at her purse. “It’ll be fine. I’ll let Nora know we’re here if you don’t want to go into the thick of it,” she smiled. “There’s the big ice chest on the back porch with sodas and waters in it. And I think Ren is picking up some pizzas on their way back.”

Weiss nodded and smiled and, for the first time since picking her up, Pyrrha could see it at least mildly genuine. “I’ll be alright,” Weiss told her and got out of the car.

  


* * *

  


“And what do you have planned for tonight?” Qrow asked Yang as he locked the door behind her, Ren, and him. It had been a long night at the restaurant and the three of them were beat. A last-minute party of four kept them past normal closing hours. They did their best to clean and prepare everything they could while they were still there, but it still held the nightly routines up. 

“Gonna follow Ren back to their place and check out the thing Nora’s throwing,” Yang laughed and shrugged her shoulders. “At least for a little bit. Have a drink, eat something, hang out.” She turned to Ren. “There’s gonna be food, right?”

Ren snorted in amusement. “Yes. I’m picking up the pizzas on the way back.”

Yang turned back to Qrow. “Then yeah.”

“Alright. Don’t think I need to tell you this, but I will anyway. No drinking and driving, and if you get in late, careful with your headlights. Tai’s a grump when he gets woken up early,” Qrow laughed. 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I got it,” Yang agreed and headed to her car. “Am I following you or heading straight there?” she asked Ren.

“You can go ahead. I won’t be too far behind.”

“Got it,” Yang grinned and hopped in her car. When she turned it on, the roar of the engine broke the silence of the parking lot, echoing off of nearby buildings. The restored muscle car was not a quiet vehicle by any means and she took pride in the work she spent restoring it with her dads. It had originally been a birthday present when she turned fifteen, a project she and Qrow and Tai could work on together. As long as she kept her grades up, Qrow promised to help her have it running and registered by the time she was old enough to drive. 

“Be safe!” Qrow called out as he waved Yang off. Ren was still getting in their car when the roar of Yang’s car’s engine cried out and she sped down the road. “That girl,” he sighed. 

“She just likes making you mad,” Ren said with a laugh and shrug of their shoulders. In the distance, Yang slowed down to the speed limit. 

“Anyway, see you tomorrow?”

“I’ll be here,” Ren confirmed and got in their car.

  


* * *

  


Yang pulled into the driveway and hummed in thought while she looked for a spot to park. She pulled behind Pyrrha’s car and backed down the driveway a ways to give Ren space to park when they got there. She knew better than to take their spot, and also enough to know that pulling forward too far would ensure she would get boxed in. As much as she liked the events Nora had, having the option to leave was always an important thing. With a loud slam, she shut her door and pocketed the key, making her way down the driveway to the house. From the cars alone, Yang could tell that Nora’s coworkers showed up, same with Sun, Jaune, and Neptune. She laughed. Nora’s coworkers were sure to be a rowdy bunch.

“Yaaang! You made it!” 

The sudden call out startled Yang and she looked around to see Nora running straight at her, jump up in the air, and Yang had to brace herself so the both of them didn’t go tumbling back onto the gravel of the driveway. “Started without me, huh?” With a loud grunt, Nora collided with Yang and they skid back in the gravel. 

“Of course! Where’s Ren?”

“They said they were picking up pizzas, but should be here soon,” Yang explained and set Nora down on her feet. 

“Pizza!” Nora yelled and turned back to the house, running inside. “Ren’s bringing pizza!” A small chorus of cheers echoed out and Yang shook her head as she followed inside. 

As expected, Nora’s coworkers were in the kitchen playing some drinking game that consisted of slapping each other and doing shots. Jaune was hanging nearby nursing a beer while laughing at the game going on. Directly behind him, Sun and Neptune were pouring various bottles into plastic cups. “Hey guys,” Yang greeted the two mixing drinks. “Do I want to know what’s in those?”

“Hmm?” Neptune hummed. “Probably not. Tastes as bad as it looks, too. But hey, we’re limiting ourselves to one drink each. Just have to make it count, right?” 

Yang snorted. “I guess. Sun, pass the strawberry vodka and the orange juice, would ya?”

“Just these two? Weak,” Sun laughed and slid the bottles across the counter to her. 

“Not all of us have the luxury of having a Jaune to keep us in line, unless you want to share. Plus, I like to remember my nights,” Yang teased back.

“We remember things, too, thank you. That’s why we’re limiting to one drink each,” Neptune scoffed. “Plus, Jaune is ours, so hands off.”

“It’s true,” Jaune spoke up, turning to look at Yang. He lifted part of his shirt up for Yang to see that Neptune and Sun had written their names on him, but the writing glowed. “Sorry, Yang.”

Yang finished pouring her drink, only adding a splash of vodka to it. “It’s cool, Jaune,” she laughed. “And, did you two use neon markers? Jeez.”

“What? We wanted to be extra sure people knew,” Sun spoke up. “Nora always busts out the black lights for these, so we figured why not?” 

Neptune turned around and lifted the back of his shirt up and a stick figure family of him, Sun, and Jaune decorated his back. “I still haven’t seen what Sun put there. Does it look okay at least?” he asked. 

“Uhh,” Yang started and she got a stern look from Sun. “Looks great.” She took a sip from her drink and slipped away before that conversation went too much further and either she or Sun got in trouble.

  


* * *

  


The thumping of the speakers inside reverberated in Weiss’ head and she winced. Being inside was beginning to be too much for her, and all of her usual sitting spots when she visited were presently occupied by people in various stages of drunkenness. Since she wasn’t too familiar with most of Nora’s friends, she felt very out of place with most of them. Weiss was very surprised that teachers and people working in the daycare systems of the city partied so heavily, but she also supposed that if the field attracted someone like Nora, it wouldn’t be that surprising to find out that others like her were drawn to it as well. The energy and passion needed to remain in a childcare or teaching profession for so long definitely took a certain type of person, and it was one that Weiss knew she was not. 

“Hey!” someone near her called out and she flinched. Weiss turned slowly to see a guy she didn’t recognize approaching her. He frowned and drunkenly eyed her a long moment before blinking and laughing. Weiss wasn’t sure what was going through his head, but she figured she didn’t want to know. “You seen Ren anywhere?”

Weiss shook her head, hoping to get out of the house as soon as possible. Her growing discomfort being around so many people she didn’t recognize, in so many stages of inebriation, put her on edge.

“No worries,” he laughed again and stumbled off. “Anyone seen Ren?” he called out to everyone in the front room. 

With a sigh, Weiss darted through the small dining area where the kitchen table had been converted for beer pong, narrowly avoiding getting splashed when someone backed into her and spilled their drink on the floor. The sandy blond guy with an open shirt apologized and looked around before calling out, “Got a spill!” and was hit in the face with a dishrag that was thrown at him. 

The sliding door to the back porch was just behind the group around the table and she managed to slip outside without further incident. The cooler air felt refreshing. Inside had grown stuffy with so many people. She walked to the large ice chest set up on the porch, just where Pyrrha said it was, and dug through it to find one of the waters. She wiped the melting ice off of the bottle and gave it a shake to get the excess water cleared when saw that at least her favorite bench was free; the one not directly in front of a window. That’s all she needed, she thought, more people gawking at her through the window. No, the bench with a solid wall behind it was clearly the perfect choice. Less noise through the window, fewer chances for others to pick her apart with their eyes like she figured the guys before did. She felt exhausted already and it had only been- Weiss pulled her phone out of her bag to check the time. “Twenty minutes?” she groaned and hung her head.

Setting her phone aside, Weiss opened her water and drank half of it down. Keeping hydrated had been something she had needed to adjust to once she started her medications and working since she didn’t realize just how little fluids she drank during the day until getting dizzy at work and school. That was definitely eyeopening, and something else Blake had lightly chastised her for. She couldn’t argue, though, that she didn’t feel better increasing her water intake. Even if it did come at the price of the embarrassment of letting her manager learn how poorly she took care of herself. 

A loud cry from nearby caught her attention. Laughter filled the air soon after as two people out on the back patch of grass seemed to be wrestling. Weiss rolled her eyes and picked up her phone. She caught sight of her reflection on the screen and frowned, understanding immediately why the person from before eyed her so heavily. If she was going to spend the next hour and a half there, she was going to try and find something to do, even if it was spent that long playing solitaire on her phone while trying to ignore the people outside with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uploading another chapter a bit early since I'm still a bit excited for this fic. I know it may not be everyone's favorite, but it's important to me and I want to share it. I'm including a lot of stories and details in it based on things I've done or gone through, and some people I've been friends with over the years. It's also become a bit of a vent-fic for me to let out a lot of personal feelings in a constructive way. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it.  
> If you didn't know, I have another story I'm uploading weekly, Esoteric Banalities, that's building up to some Bees Schnees, so if that's your thing, maybe check it out. There're some supernatural elements going on with that one, and lots of plans for the future of it. 
> 
> Thank you for reading~♥


	3. Chapter 3

It didn’t take long for Ren to return with the food and suddenly a crowd formed in the dining area around the pizzas. Yang shouldered her way through the group to grab a slice before backing out and settling by where Sun, Jaune, and Neptune were settled in the living room. 

“Not grabbing any food?” she asked and took a bite from the slice.

“Nah, we ate before we got here. We needed something in our systems while we pre-gamed anyway,” Sun grinned. 

“What happened to one drink max?” Yang laughed. 

“That only applies to at the party here. It doesn’t count whatever we may or may not have drank before arriving,” Neptune corrected. “Ask Jaune.”

Jaune, sat next to Sun who had Neptune on his lap, only shrugged. “I don’t get paid to make the rules, only enforce them.”

“What are you talking about? We don’t pay you?” Sun cut in. 

“Not that you know of,” Jaune smirked and glanced up to Neptune. 

“Have you been paying him?” Sun scoffed and glanced at Neptune before turning back to Jaune. “What has he been paying you? Is this where all of my millions have gone?”

Neptune rolled his eyes. “Please. You? Millions? And you let us dress like this?” He motioned to himself and Jaune. 

“Hey, what’s wrong with what I wear?” Jaune spoke up.

“Nothing, dear, don’t worry about it,” Neptune laughed and it earned him tickles from Sun getting at his ribs. “Ah! I’m kidding, I’m kidding, jeez!” He squirmed and fell over laughing. 

“We love and appreciate you, Jaune!” Sun said while leaning to the side against Jaune.

“Alright, well, I’m gonna go somewhere else while you all still have your shirts on,” Yang teased and walked off, finishing her pizza as she entered the dining area again. The beer pong table had been turned back into a table for the boxes of pizza much to the benefit of whoever had been on the left side of the table, judging by the cups remaining. 

“Yang!” Nora shouted and ran at her, wrapping an arm around her waist to drag her into the kitchen. “Drink with me!”

“I’ve already got a drink,” Yang protested as she was dragged into the kitchen. When the counter came into view, she tried to escape the redhead’s grasp even more. “No. Nora, no. I’m not doing shots. Gods, I’m not doing shots with you again.” 

“Sorry, Yang. If I have to do one, you do, too,” Pyrrha sighed. “It’s the only way she’s letting me not do more,” she pleaded. 

“Fine, one, for you,” Yang agreed. “But not you, you gremlin,” she grumbled and got out of Nora’s arms. 

Nora only cackled as she rushed the counter to begin pouring them out. Whatever bottle she was using to pour them out, Yang couldn’t read. The label had either been purposely blacked out or worn off over time. Neither option seemed to inspire confidence in her, and the look of unease was clear on Pyrrha’s face as well. Ren, however, sat on the counter and watched things unfold with a mug in their hand. How they had gotten out of this but Pyrrha didn’t, Yang wasn’t sure. Before she knew it, a shot glass was thrust into her hand and one into Pyrrha’s. They looked at each other with the same hesitant unease when Nora counted down from three and ended with slapping her palm on the counter signaling them all to drink.

If asked to describe the taste of what she just poured down her throat, Yang wouldn’t be able to because of the sheer level of coughing and burning that followed it. Whatever was in the glass elicited a similar reaction from Pyrrha as well, but Nora stood triumphant having downed not one, but two shots of it without coughing. All of the intense burning of her throat and, oh gods, it reached her stomach and set it on fire as well, had to be doused and she drained her cup of orange juice with vodka to put out the blaze. It was then that Yang was thankful for the small splash of vodka being the only alcohol she had put into the drink since the orange juice at least helped cover the aftertaste of what she could only call jet fuel and liquid smoke. 

Unable to properly speak just yet, she pointed to the soda Pyrrha held in her hand and was directed to the back door. With a thumbs-up, she escaped Nora out to the back porch. The cooler air of the night was refreshing, but she still needed something to continue flushing the taste out of her throat. Right by the door, a large cooler was exactly what she sought. Digging right in, she grabbed the first soda she saw and opened it, not bothering to wipe the ice or water off, and drank most of it down before needing to burp. 

“Whew, jeez. The hell was that stuff?” she muttered to herself and turned to see two guys hanging out that she didn’t recognize. “If Nora asks you to do shots, don’t do it,” she laughed and shook her head. In the yard, two people sprawled out on the patch of grass looking entirely exhausted, patches of the small lawn looked torn up and she’d have sworn they almost dug a small hole in the ground. She motioned to them and the guys on the bench only shrugged as they lit cigarettes and offered her one. She shook her head and turned around. 

On the other side, sitting on the other bench by herself, was a girl with brilliantly white hair, and Yang smiled. She was cute, too, and Yang approached her.

  


* * *

  


“Heya.” The voice next to Weiss said with a cheery tone. 

Weiss felt the presence of someone else next to her but didn’t look up in hopes that whoever approached would simply go away. She barely knew anyone at the party outside of Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora, but even Ren and Nora she wasn’t all that close with. If she had not already done so, Weiss was sure that she would begin questioning all of her life choices that led to her being at that specific house at that specific time and kick herself. But she already did that shortly after arriving and the task at hand seemed to be getting through the next period of time without incident so she could go home. 

As her thumb tapped on her phone’s screen to continue her game of solitaire, she could tell that the person next to her wasn’t going to leave anytime soon and it came time to hazard a glance up at whoever it was. With a sigh, she turned to face the person and- 

“So you CAN hear me,” the woman grinned. 

Weiss regretted her decision immediately. She didn’t bother to force a smile and simply stared at the woman waiting for her to give away what she wanted. 

“Like your dress,” the woman told her. 

The compliment threw Weiss off her guard. Was she being… genuine? Or was this someone else making fun of her? The distinction between the two became difficult to tell apart over the years. Coming from a family with money made it hard to tell who was sincere and who wasn’t, who only wanted access to money and potential favors in the future. Growing up attending private schools left Weiss feeling isolated. 

“Um, thanks,” Weiss finally mumbled and stared up at the blond. 

“I’m Yang, by the way,” she told her. 

“Weiss.”

Yang grinned and Weiss wasn’t sure what to expect from her. “It’s ‘Weiss’ to meet you.”

Weiss was done. She turned back to her phone without saying anything and decided to ignore Yang. Falling under a stranger’s attention felt mortifying and she wanted nothing short of vanishing. If she didn’t feel boxed in with her standing there, she would have left the situation entirely. Instead, Weiss opted to hunch her shoulders and shrink down.

“Sorry,” Yang said while taking a seat on the bench next to Weiss. “I know that was bad,” she laughed. “But I can’t help myself around someone as cute as you.”

Weiss turned her head to simply stare at Yang. What was this woman playing it? They both had to know that she wasn’t pretty or cute or anything resembling that right then. Her gaze must have gotten something through to Yang since she didn’t immediately respond. But then-

“We can always go ‘Yang’ out somewhere else if you’d like?”

Red flags raised in her head. Why was this person so insistent on being near her? What did they possibly want with her? Make fun of her, maybe? She had to know that she was trans, so why was it they were trying so hard to talk with her? “Please stop,” Weiss managed to say. “Stop, stop, stop,” she continued and leaned down to hide her face against her knees. Tears? Of course, she would start crying then. Great. Just what she needed. Something else to make her look even worse that evening. Why couldn’t she exist outside of everything, away from everyone else? Why did she bother to go to the party that night? Why did Pyrrha want to torture her like this? She balled her hands into fists and felt her nails digging into her palms.

“Just how they are,” one of the guys on the bench across the way said loudly, and Weiss squeezed her eyes shut tighter. People were looking. 

“Yeah, she’s like this a lot. Dunno why Pyrrha keeps inviting her,” the other guy told Yang. 

“Will you two shut up?” Yang snapped at them. 

Weiss heard the others on the porch mumbling between themselves and leave, heading back inside based on the door shutting. Yang stayed on the bench next to her. Tilting her head to the side, Weiss could see through her tears that she was still there.

  


* * *

  


Shit. 

That was the first thing Yang thought the moment Weiss started to cry. Her mind switched gears from ‘badly flirting’ to ‘protective older sister’ mode near instantly. This was most likely her fault. She felt she fucked up and wasn’t sure exactly what she did to trigger such a reaction in the girl, but she had to fix it. Telling the two dudes to shut it was a good start, but there had to be more. Weiss didn’t seem intent on talking with her, so maybe she should get someone. Who, though? Yang cursed Nora in her mind for making her drink whatever that shot happened to be made of as the burning in her stomach left her feeling less than one hundred percent. Think, Yang. Think, she told herself. 

“I’m sorry,” Yang offered as she stood up from the bench. Those two guys said something. They mentioned… It was Pyrrha. They brought up Pyrrha being friends with her, didn’t they? Maybe she should go get Pyrrha. “Should I go get someone?” Yang asked hesitantly. “I’ll go get Pyrrha.”

Yang turned to head inside when a hand on her wrist stopped her. “Please don’t.” Weiss’ voice sounded weak and small. It cut Yang deep and she wanted to… she didn’t know what. Maybe simply hug her. But that would be overstepping bounds. She stopped and turned back around to look at Weiss when the door to the house opening pulled her attention. She saw one of the two guys from before. 

“Dude, just get out of here,” Yang told him. 

“Just getting my drink, jeez,” he mumbled and reached for a plastic cup on the armrest of the other bench. He rolled his eyes and went back inside, allowing Yang to turn back to Weiss. 

Seeing Weiss curled in on herself reminded her of looking out for her sister in the past. Weiss and Ruby both seemed to have similar small frames and Yang only wanted to… She guessed she wanted to make things better, but Weiss still happened to be a stranger. “Okay, um, no on getting Pyrrha. Was there someone else I can get for you? Anything I can get you? Or did you want me to leave?” she finally asked. Yang turned to the ice chest and stepped toward it. Water was a good start.

“Wait.”

That voice. Soft and polite. “Just grabbing you a water,” Yang reassured the girl. Bending over, she opened the ice chest and dug through a pile of soda cans to find the bottles of water buried deep at the bottom. Turning around, water in hand, she noted that Weiss had sat up from her curled forward position. Her eyes red and puffy from the previous tears and she kept wiping at them with a napkin that Yang assumed she pulled from her purse. “Here,” Yang spoke softly, handing the water to her. “Should drink some of this so you don’t get a headache.”

Weiss accepted the water, opening it and taking a sip, still eying Yang. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. I’m perfectly fine on my own.”

“I believe you,” Yang told her. That ‘I can stand on my own’ stubbornness definitely reminded her of Ruby. “Is it alright if I sit down?” Her expression softened when she saw Weiss eye her cautiously and slowly nod. “Thanks.” The wood of the bench creaked when Yang settled on it, all of the bolts holding it together loosened from age and an unknown number of people abusing it during Nora’s parties. She felt half tempted to bring tools over sometime and fix it since it bugged her so much, but she also knew she would completely forget about it as soon as she left. 

The people on the lawn looked to be falling asleep. Yang had no clue who they were, but she had to admit that they at least looked to have been enjoying themselves. Nora absolutely wouldn’t be happy about the grass later, but she would be easy enough to calm down for Ren and Pyrrha. Yang had seen it countless times. Whatever powers Ren had in talking with people definitely amazed her. ‘The drunk whisperer’ was a title he rightly earned over time. She didn’t like to admit it to many people out of embarrassment, but Yang definitely needed to be coaxed out of something regrettable at a past party. It was a defining moment in her relationship with Nora, and also the reason Yang refused to do shots with the redhead anymore. At least Nora had gotten in trouble, too. Yang smirked at the memory and turned to look at Weiss on the bench with her, the smirk fading to a warmer smile. 

“Hey, um… I’m sorry for before. Bothering you like I did. I’m kinda bad at reading the room like that sometimes,” Yang admitted and laughed awkwardly. “Just tell me to go and I’ll go, okay?”

Weiss took another drink from her bottle of water and sighed. “It’s fine. You can stay. I’m just having a bad day,” she admitted, leaning back on the bench, relaxing a little. 

“Wanna talk about it?”

“Not particularly,” Weiss answered without much inflection, offering only an expression Yang couldn’t fully read. 

“I’m guessing parties aren’t your favorite thing. If you’re not having fun, why don’t you go home?” Yang asked, genuinely curious. “You showed up, I’m guessing you saw the people you wanted to, but if you’re sitting alone out here, why not leave?” 

And, silence. Yang felt she struck out and was back to square one with their conversation again. She had to admit that at least talking with one of the very few sober people at the part felt safer than potentially getting dragged into a drinking game that Nora’s friends liked to call “slap shots.” And hanging out with Sun, Neptune, and Jaune usually involved more male nudity than she preferred. How Jaune dealt with wrestling clothes back on the other two she didn’t know. Being near Ren ran the risk of doing shots with Nora, which wasn’t good. Yang wanted to be able to drive home a bit later, not get forced to stay the night. Hiding outside with Weiss at least felt comfortable for the evening instead of roaming around the party on her own. 

“I got a ride here,” Weiss finally said with a frown. 

“I see. Well, want me to find someone to give you a ride home? Ren or Jaune should be able to,” Yang explained and motioned with her thumb to the door into the house. The look on Weiss’ face was enough for Yang to know that the offered option was a no-go, and on some level, she was happy about that. The idea of babysitting Sun and Neptune while Jaune gave Weiss a ride home didn’t seem appealing. “Don’t want to go home, then?”

“I do, but it’s… complicated,” Weiss sighed. “I shouldn’t go home yet.”

Yang pulled her phone from her pocket and checked the clock. Doing quick math in her head, she squeezed her eyes shut trying to calculate how long until she was good again to drive. Her orange juice only had a splash, and she only had one shot. If she didn’t drink anything else, she should be alright in… Yang opened her eyes. “If you want a ride in about an hour, I should be able to give you one. If Nora didn’t make me do that shot earlier…” she grumbled. 

Weiss stared at Yang for a long moment before speaking. “Alright.”

  


* * *

  


“Aaaand, I should be good to go,” Yang announced. 

Weiss looked up from her phone, a half-finished game of solitaire on the screen waiting for input. “Are you sure?” she asked, skeptical of anyone drinking and driving. Her mother’s past incidents a solid reminder of why the Schnee women shouldn’t drink, and a solid warning of why nobody should drive after drinking. Thankfully nobody had died or gotten seriously injured from the car accident… Or, accidents. Multiple. The woman believed every part of life had a wine pairing appropriate for it, including driving. Just another reason Weiss was thankful she couldn’t drink. Becoming that… woman… was the last thing she wanted to do. 

“Yeah, it’s been over an hour and I don’t feel anything. I’m starting to feel like whatever Nora made me drink had a worse bark than bite.” Yang stood up and stretched, her shoulders popping as she did so. “Mm,” she hummed. “If you’d like a ride, I’m heading out.”

The little bits of forced conversation with the blond woman taught Weiss that she worked with Ren, has been friends with Nora for a long time, and has a sister a little younger than her. The same conversation taught Yang almost nothing about Weiss except that she was friends with Pyrrha and had most likely met her at college. Weiss didn’t want to open up about anything that night. Perhaps if she had a good day, she would be more willing to converse, but her day going from being insulted at a retail job, to being dragged out of the house despite not feeling in the mood for it, to being flirted with and confusing it for the person making fun of her, and crying in front of strangers… It didn’t make her comfortable sharing much about herself. 

She weighed her options which seemed to be waiting another hour and asking Ren for a ride, or waiting and calling Blake and asking for one. Neither of which seemed to be all that appealing, especially when she would be doing the bare minimum of staying the time she promised. Leaving with Yang, however, could take her home, and she could message Pyrrha saying she had a headache. That seemed a much better plan. “Alright, I’ll go,” Weiss said with the most confidence she put forth the entire evening. 

“Where am I taking you, by the way?” Yang asked while leading Weiss down the steps to the lawn area. 

Weiss got up, put her purse on her shoulder, and followed behind. “You can drop me off at the post office on third and I can walk from there,” she explained. Sure, that route would be an additional fifteen-minute walk, but she already felt bad enough needing a ride in the first place, and even worse for having someone she barely knew taking her. The red flags from earlier seemed to have mellowed out and Yang, from what Weiss could tell, was genuinely nice. Most everyone at Nora’s parties was in some way, she thought, but whether they were nice to HER was a different story. 

“Walk? Nonsense. I always escort a lady to her door,” Yang winked over her shoulder at Weiss. Maybe her instincts about Yang were wrong. Weiss groaned. “Alright, alright. I’ll stop,” Yang laughed. 

“Thank you,” Weiss sighed. “I’m, um, actually in an apartment over by Arcadian Sweets.”

“What? That’s nowhere NEAR the post office. I’m not dropping you off so far from your house. Jeez. Not at night like this.” Yang opened the side gate and held it open for Weiss to pass through. 

The gravel driveway was packed with cars and she didn’t know which one was Yang’s car. The blond shut the gate behind them and walked across the driveway to an older looking car that seemed to be well taken care of. Yang opened the door for Weiss to get in, and the loud slam of it shutting sounded mechanical with a weight. A lot different than the more recently built cars. Another loud slam of the door and Yang sat in the driver’s seat. With an offending roar, the engine came to life which made Weiss question if getting into such a machine was wise. 

Weiss pulled her phone out and sent a message to Pyrrha as the car reversed out of the driveway. ‘Getting a ride home. I’m not feeling well. I’ve got a headache.’ She stared at the message after she sent it and wondered if she should send it to Blake as well before copy-pasting it into a message to them, too. 

Yang’s car tore down the road and onto the highway, much to the terror of Weiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally have some interaction between Yang and Weiss. Unfortunately, it didn't... exactly go well... Things will be fiiiiiine though, I'm sure. 
> 
> Sorry for the late update! I didn't forget about this, it's just that my sleep schedule has been all mixed up, and Thanksgiving threw a wrench in things. 
> 
> I managed to finish the NaNoWriMo goal a few days ago and made some solid progress on some projects I'm working on (and I swear I don't have ideas for yet another one in the works). 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! I promise the next chapter won't be so late. ♥


	4. Chapter 4

A loud vibration broke the mellow sounds of the room and Blake leaned over to grab their phone from the nightstand next to their bed. They furrowed their brow as they slid their thumb over the screen to unlock it. A message from… Weiss? Blake marked their place in their book and set it aside. A twinge of worry hit their stomach and they read over the message. Well, a headache isn’t the worst thing that could have happened, but Blake had an idea it was something more than that. Glancing at the time, they had to admit that she stayed longer than they thought she would. Hopefully, she at least enjoyed seeing Pyrrha and everyone, Blake thought to themself. 

They set their phone on the bed and picked their book back up to begin reading again, keeping an ear out for Weiss to return. Blake wasn’t quite sure when or how it happened, but they wound up playing guardian to Weiss not long after she started working at the bookstore with them. Back then, she was a stressed out and ready to snap mess, though meeting her father one time was enough to clue them in on everything. The man was… If Blake had to put it politely, he was painfully and incurably conservative. From his dress to his values, the man seemed wound so tight he could crack diamonds between his butt cheeks. It was, in Blake’s professional opinion as a self-proclaimed queer mom-friend, unacceptable for Weiss to stay living with such a person and they took it upon themself to remedy the situation. 

That isn’t to say it was easy, but Weiss did seem ready to leave the Schnee household after a particular incident that she wouldn’t talk about, but Blake knew it wasn’t good based solely on how distraught she seemed when she showed up to work… three hours late. Blake had to admit that the girl was strong, though. Much stronger than she gave herself credit for, though that may just be a biased opinion on Blake’s part. Seeing others truly come into their own made them happy and they were at least happy that Weiss was on her way up, even if she didn’t believe it. 

Blake frowned and looked back over the pages they supposedly just read and realized they absorbed none of what was there. They set the book on their nightstand and sat up with a stretch. It did seem they couldn’t focus on reading right then, but Weiss would be back soon and most likely not in the best of moods. The least they could do is make her some tea for trying. 

“Come on, let’s go start the kettle,” Blake told the black cat sleeping next to them on the bed. The cat opened his eyes and stared at them a moment before yawning and watching Blake get up from the bed. “Or you can be a lazy butt. Either is fine, I guess,” Blake shrugged before leaving the room. 

Blake flipped the kitchen light on when they entered before turning it back off, the harsh fluorescent lighting hurting their eyes. They instead felt for the dining area light with a warmer light to it before opening their eyes again with a sigh. It was only a moment to dump the old water from the red kettle, and another moment to fill it with fresh water, and finally, the kettle was on the stove, burner heating up. Blake opened the cupboard above the stove and started to sort through their massive collection of teas. Small jars, large jars, zipped plastic bags, tins, and several other containers stacked and filled the cupboard of different loose leaf tea blends. Every single one held a label with a handwritten description of what was inside. 

Picking the right tea often felt as soothing as drinking it. Blake wasn’t often one for going with any single specific blend, either. No, they liked to mix and match, making something unique for that moment. They walked to another cupboard to take out their go-to teapot, a blue ceramic one with tall and thin stylized cats painted on the side, and a mesh tea infuser basket that fit over the top. Next came picking what to make. It was too late in the day for anything overly caffeinated, so it ruled out her green and black teas, plus caffeine tended to play weird for Weiss at times. Something calming would be good. A bit of chamomile with a little spearmint is a good start. 

They pulled down a jar and twisted it open before feeling around for the measuring spoon they kept in the cupboard with everything. One small scoop of chamomile and spearmint tea into the infuser. And… to go with that… Blake closed the jar and stuck it back in the cupboard, standing on their toes to dig around. Near the back, a tin of rooibos and vanilla tea. A little bit of that to mellow out the mint. Perfect. They pulled it out and added a small scoop into the teapot as well, just in time for the front door to open. 

“Hey Weiss,” Blake called out and poked their head around the corner. Weiss looked a bit worse than anticipated based on the text they received. Had she been crying? Blake sighed and entered the front room. “You okay?”

Weiss quietly nodded and moved to set her purse on the couch she used for a bed. She knelt down and opened her suitcase to dig through it, presumably to find her pajamas. 

“Did you want to talk about it at all?” Blake offered. They knew the answer was most likely to be a resounding no, but they still wanted to help. In retrospect, urging Weiss to go to the party with Pyrrha may have been a poor idea, and Blake felt at fault for convincing her to go, especially they, themself, didn’t attend it. They should have taken into account the mood she was in at the store. 

Weiss shook her head and sighed. “I’m going to take a shower,” she mumbled, having found her sleep clothes. 

When Weiss entered the bathroom and closed the door, the soft whistle of the kettle pulled Blake back to the kitchen.

  


* * *

  


Yang pulled away from the apartment building and stopped at the intersection. Did she really want to go home so early? Going back to the party was out of the question since she had only just managed to escape it. Maybe escape was too harsh of a word for what she did since she did enjoy some of her time there. Always entertaining running into Sun, Neptune, and Jaune since she didn’t get to see them too often anymore. Whatever new job Sun had kept him busy. Yang wasn’t sure of the details about what he did, but it definitely paid better than his last one. 

It almost seemed a shame to head back home so early in the evening. A glance at her stereo clock told her it was only ten-thirty. Most of her friends were at Nora’s party, so maybe heading home would be for the best. While she waited for the light to turn green, Yang glanced back at the apartment building Weiss went into and wondered about her. She learned her name, she was friends with Pyrrha, and sort of knew Ren and Nora through her. She definitely was not one to open up, and maybe it was that detail that intrigued Yang. Plus, she was cute. Really cute. Pick her up and put her in your pocket cute. 

That last saying never made sense to Yang, but it was something her mom used to always say and it just stuck with her. She would always sing a song to Yang and Ruby when they were little, playing in the living room, and if Yang had to guess, that would be where her mom picked the saying up from. That old Jeanette Harper song. The light turned green and Yang started driving again, though her mind remained on the memories as she turned onto familiar streets.

  


* * *

  


Weiss closed her eyes and let the hot water fall over her until her skin felt the tingle from being too hot, the small bathroom nearly becoming a steam room. She reached a hand out to grasp the knob and turn the heat down to a more comfortable level before tilting her face into it. After working a full shift at the bookstore and going to the party, she felt absolutely drained. The emotional exhaustion hit her harder than anything. 

She cried in front of strangers. Weiss rubbed her hands over her face to try and scrub the makeup off as she thought back over everything that happened. She had gone to the party. She wandered off to be alone. That blond woman, Yang, wouldn’t leave her alone, and she started crying. It didn’t make sense. Or, it did, but she couldn’t believe she did that. Running her hands through her hair, Weiss took a deep breath and sighed. She was getting too hung up on the fact she cried. There was more that happened. 

Turning around, Weiss opened her eyes and reached for a washcloth and the store brand body wash she got. It didn’t smell the greatest. In fact, Weiss found it a bit too strong for her liking, and mildly chemically, too. But, she got it because it was the cheapest she could find. To her, getting anything better felt wrong when she could barely pay for her part of utilities while staying with Blake. The soap poured out in a runny mess on the cloth, much thinner than others on the market, and Weiss did her best to lather it up before scrubbing herself down with it. 

Yang didn’t leave her alone, Weiss thought. And she did get rid of those people on the porch with them. She seemed nice enough, but why was she so insistent on spending time with her? It didn’t make sense to Weiss, and while she was grateful to her for the ride, as well, she didn’t know what to think of her. Weiss groaned and finished scrubbing down. It was clear her mind was tired and she had enough of the day. Brain tired, time to shut down. 

She finished scrubbing herself and rinsed off, feeling she did an adequate job. It wasn’t as if she did anything overly strenuous or labored that day where she would get overly sweaty and gross, so she considered the shower good enough. Shutting the water off, Weiss reached for her towel to dry herself. She was ready to lay down and the day to be done with.

  


* * *

  


“Feeling any better?” Blake asked when Weiss stepped out of the bathroom. They were seated on the second couch, the couch that wasn’t being used for a bed, with a mug of tea in their hands and a smile for Weiss. 

“Little bit,” Weiss admitted and combed her fingers through her still-damp hair. Even after blowing it dry, it still remained mildly damp near the back of her head, but she supposed it was alright since it should dry overnight. She knew she should do the rest of her nightly routine, but the energy just wasn’t there. Instead, she sat on her couch and flopped back.

Blake looked over and smiled warmly. “The cup there is yours. I thought it might help.”

“Hmm?” Weiss hummed and turned her head to see what Blake meant. Sure enough, on the coffee table sat another mug of tea. “Oh, thank you.” She pulled herself back up to sit up, reached for the mug and shifted on the couch to get comfortable. Silence filled the room save for the muffled sounds of the city outside and the quiet sipping of tea between the two. 

“Head feeling any better?” 

Blake’s voice made Weiss wince. Of course, they would ask about that since Weiss was the one to claim a headache was why she went home early. She didn’t like lying to Blake. Not after everything they did for her. And especially after all the work that went into helping Weiss get ready earlier. Guilt settled in her chest and she felt on the verge of tears. Blake did so much for her. And she couldn’t even stay a full two hours at a party because someone paid attention to her. It didn’t help that her adjusted hormone dosage had her feeling overly emotional, too. Weiss knew that Blake knew why she really came home early. She also knew Blake well enough to know that they would play along with the lie, hoping for a response as if the question they asked was about the real reason she left instead. The truth was she was feeling a little better being home. 

“It is, thank you,” Weiss smiled. 

“Good. Well, I’m going to head to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Blake yawned and stretched as they got up from the couch. 

“Goodnight,” Weiss replied and crawled to the opposite end of the couch to grab her pill sorter. 

“Goodnight,” Blake said and went into their room. 

Weiss dumped her nightly pills into her hand and set the sorter back down. With a quick motion, she stuck the pills in her mouth, took a drink from her tea, and swallowed them down. Remembering her phone, she pulled it out of her purse to plug in before she went to sleep.

  


* * *

  


Yang got out of her car and went into her trailer. The building was a single-wide modular home built next to the main house on the property her parents owned, and it was all hers. It had been for a few years, too. One bedroom, one bathroom, and an open kitchen/dining/living space. It wasn’t much, but it was her, and she loved it. The privacy it afforded her being outside of the large house was difficult to come by living on the Branwen family property. Her options were basically to share a smaller house with her dads across the way, or share the main house with her moms and sister, neither of which sounded all that appealing to her. She loved them all. Dearly. But seeing everyone at work, and coming home to see them all more felt a bit much. 

On some level, she felt the modular home was also a hint for if Yang were to meet someone, to live there on the property with everyone, too. Family stuck together. That’s what they all lived by there. They looked out for each other, even if they squabbled from time to time. Yang had to admit that she did consider leaving years ago when she turned eighteen. The itch to get out and see the world flared up inside her, and she knew it had to be from the Branwen in her. For graduating high school, her da, Qrow, took her on a trip to visit places throughout Europe, stopping in to see different relatives, and that definitely calmed the wanderlust in her. By the time they got back two months later, the home had been built for her and all of her stuff moved in. There was a time she may have thought that the house was a bribe to stay around, and the trip as well, but she knew better. Her family loved her. And she loved them. 

Inside, Yang flipped a light on wandered back to her room to get changed out of her work clothes and into something more comfortable. That was definitely another reason she was thankful she went home early. Getting out of her work clothes. She could see lights on in the main house and figured Ruby was still up watching a movie. Might as well go join them, and possibly grab a snack at the same time. Yang smiled to herself and headed over. 

“Hey, welcome back,” Yang’s mam, Raven, said to her with a laugh. “Ruby and I are watching a movie in the room over there. You’re welcome to join us if you’d like.” 

“Mom go to bed already?” Yang asked. 

“Yeah. She’s got a dentist appointment, remember?” Raven explained while she opened a cupboard, moving aside boxes of granola bars and crackers to get her hidden stash of candy and cookies out. “Speaking of, you’re overdue for your teeth cleaning.”

“Says my mam as she pulls out her candy stash,” Yang rolled her eyes. 

“You shush. I get my teeth cleaned every six months like I’m supposed to,” Raven scowled. “And as long as you don’t rat me out, I’ll share.”

Yang laughed. “Deal.”

Ruby poked her head out of what was deemed the ‘media room’ and called out. “Maaam, can you grab my cookies?” 

“Already got ‘em,” Raven replied with a laugh and turned back to Yang. “Grab a few sodas and let’s go.”

Yang dug through the fridge to grab cans of soda to bring with her. While Summer wanted them all to be healthy and encouraged them to cut back on junk foods, sweets, soda, and candy, Raven was the one to break the rules enough that Summer eventually gave up. Trying to reason with her wife seemed out of the question, and the only compromise that could be reached was healthy meals, only if Raven kept her snacks. Of course, this meant Ruby got to keep her cookies, and the two of them could also keep their soda. If anything, the push from Summer landed them back where they all started, only everyone was now aware of how much junk food they were eating. 

In the other room, Ruby jumped and landed on one of the couches, and she looked at Yang with mild surprise. “You’re back early. Party not so great?”

“It was alright. Mostly Nora’s ridiculous friends drinking themselves silly,” Yang shrugged. 

“The ones in childcare?” Raven asked with a flat tone. 

“Those are the ones,” Yang replied. 

“All I can say is I’m glad the two of you turned out mostly okay,” Raven laughed. 

“I did end up giving someone a ride home and used that as an excuse to bail,” Yang continued and took a seat in one of the cushioned chairs. “Anyway, what are we watching?”

Ruby bounced on the couch as Raven hit play on the remote. “It’s that new sci-fi whatever one with that cute actress Ruby has a crush on,” Raven explained and Ruby settled down with a soft blush to her cheeks. “Please. I love you, you are my daughter, but that also means you can’t hide these things from me,” she teased. “I am around you way too much for these things to remain secret. Plus, she is sorta cute, so at least you’ve got good taste, kid.”

Yang laughed and reclined the chair to settle in for a movie night with her sister and her mam. There were way worse ways to spend the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you I'd upload this one on time!   
> Still been a weird week, and my sleep schedule has been all sorts of messed up. It took me a lot longer than I'd like to admit to realize it was Friday. Feel like I need a nap, too. 
> 
> Anyway...   
> We're coming to a close on this first introductory "arc" of things with the party, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
> 
> Before I forget, I wanna give another thanks to Sable for doing quick proofreading for me on these chapters and pointing out issues (since I wind up making a number of them). 
> 
> Also, I've got another ongoing story right now, Esoteric Banalities. If you're interested in the Bee's Schnees ship at all, maybe check it out. 
> 
> Thank you for reading~♥


	5. Chapter 5

The hands around Weiss’ wrists held her in place, but she couldn’t see them. They felt like hands, but they were invisible and tight. So tight. She struggled and couldn’t get free of them. It didn’t help at all that she couldn’t see much of anything in the darkness around her. A squealing laugh echoed around her but the source couldn’t be located. Maybe it was one person, or creature, or demon, or something making the noise. Maybe it was multiple of them. Weiss had no way to tell. 

She was scared. 

Trapped.

No matter how much she kicked, she couldn’t get free. And did it feel like the world was on fire? Because she felt like she was burning up. The grip around her wrists lifted her up into the air and she kicked furiously trying to connect with anything but her legs swung wildly with no luck. The higher she rose, the brighter the world got. Blackness bled to blue while everything felt hotter and hotter. 

Weiss’ pulse raced and she didn’t know what to do. Or if she could even do anything at all. 

She cried.

With a deep breath, ready to scream, she choked, coughed, and lost her voice entirely. 

When the lights above her became blinding and she could no longer see even her own self-

  


* * *

  


Weiss bolted awake and fell off of the couch. Blankets tangled around her and body drenched in sweat, it took her a long moment to figure out she was safe and could still breathe. She disentangled herself from the blankets and sat on the floor, leaning back against the couch. 

Hair clung to her forehead and she realized that she must have had another nightmare. Trying to remember everything that happened felt difficult. There was… Hmm… No, she couldn’t remember anything. Just the feeling of choking, being restrained, and panic. It had been so long since the incident that she thought she was fully over it, but maybe the stress of being at the party wore her down enough for it to come back. Weiss frowned at the thought. She would have to make a note to bring that up with her therapist later, but she also knew she wouldn’t do that. Even notes she made ahead of time would always get forgotten once she sat down in the office. 

Water. She needed water. With a groan, Weiss got to her feet and wandered into the kitchen, careful to avoid the coffee table, and felt out for the fridge. The moon provided just enough light to see in the kitchen and she pulled the door open to grab a bottle of water. Weiss normally would have been fine drinking tap water, not wanting to be any nuisance while being a guest, but Blake insisted on both of them having a system for filtering and bottling water for later, saying the chlorine upset her stomach, and also made everything taste odd. Really, the entire system was that whoever finished the last of the reusable bottles had to run tap water through the filter pitcher and fill the bottles to put back in the fridge, though Weiss wound up doing that regardless to at least be useful around the house. 

Weiss wouldn’t admit it, but she did like the filtered water a lot more than the tap water. 

Back on the couch, Weiss readjusted the blankets she used and moved her pillow back in place before laying back down. All of her tossing and turning in the night definitely made a mess of her sleeping area and she was surprised she didn’t fall off the couch sooner. Shifting and stretching, rolling over, she tried getting comfortable but had zero luck. She felt a tired ache in her legs that wouldn’t go away. When she rolled over to face the rest of the room, she noticed two eyes looking up at her from the floor. 

“Hey Shroud,” Weiss whispered and reached a hand out to pet the feline visitor. He must have wandered out of Blake’s room from the commotion to see what was going on, she thought. He rubbed his cheek on her hand and walked in a circle, coming back to rub against Weiss’ hand again. 

Shroud jumped up on the couch and walked close, peering at Weiss’ face only inches away from it, and began to purr. She brought her arm back up and pet along his back as he lifted his butt each time her hand ran down his spine. 

“I need to sleep,” Weiss admitted to the cat who only spun around in another circle and rubbed against her hand more. “But you can stay if you want,” she conceded. 

Weiss knew the cat liked to sleep atop her based solely on the amount of cat hair covering her that she woke up with, but if she was honest? She didn’t mind it. Shroud was a sweet boy and always seemed to know when she wasn’t feeling well. Back at her family’s house, she wasn’t allowed to have a pet, so staying with Blake felt exciting in a number of ways; one being the presence of Shroud. He typically kept her company on her days off, lazing on the couch next to her while she read or used her laptop. 

Arm… going numb… Weiss rolled onto her back and stretched out again, raising her arm in the air and flexed her hand in an attempt to force feeling back into it. Shroud took the opportunity to climb atop her. He quickly laid down on her stomach and rested his head on her chest. With a smile, she began to pet him, lightly dragging her nails down his back and eliciting a purr from him. The feeling was relaxing and she closed her eyes, idly petting Shroud until she fell back asleep.

  


* * *

  


With the first sign of light poking into their room, Blake opened their eyes and rolled over to reach for their phone. It was early, but how early was it? And was it worth trying to get more sleep? Phone in hand, they rolled onto their back and blinked as they tried to focus on the screen in their hands. Almost seven… That didn’t feel too early to get up, but it definitely felt too late for them to go back to sleep. They sat up with a long, slow stretch, feeling their joints pop, and getting their blood flowing. 

Weiss had to still be asleep, Blake thought. While she was usually an early riser, getting up around that time in the morning, with how exhausted she seemed the night before, Blake figured she wouldn’t be up for another hour or so. Especially if the sound they heard during the night was Weiss having another nightmare. They definitely regretting urging Weiss to go out the night before if it led to Weiss having another nightmare. 

Feet to the floor, Blake adjusted their sleep kimono and shuffled out of their bedroom. Sure enough, Weiss was still fast asleep. Only… Shroud lay sleeping next to her, too. They stopped and smiled at the scene and how cute it was. Weiss on her side partially curled up with Shroud nestled against her stomach, his legs and tail curled up with him like a fuzzy ball. If they didn’t know any better, they would think Shroud was becoming more Weiss’ cat than their own. But really, Blake felt it had to do with Shroud seeming to be a very sympathetic cat. Cuddling and purring when he thought someone felt sad. And, if he helped Weiss, Blake was all the happier for it. 

In the kitchen, Blake turned the burner on for the kettle as they yawned, pulling down a tin of one of their favorite teas to go with breakfast; citrus mint. Simply consisting of peppermint leaves and lemon peel, it offered a pleasant combination to start the day with. It was a hard sell for them at first, the idea of orange juice after brushing teeth came to mind as the only citrus and mint combination they could think of. But, after actually giving it a shot with real mint leaves and real bits of lemon peel, they came around to the flavor combination. 

Hearing they were up, Shroud entered the kitchen area and meowed loudly behind Blake. “Of course you’re up now. Am I just the food provider to you?” they sighed and turned around to look at him. He sat down and meowed again, tail curling around his side as he stared at them expectantly. They stared back for a moment before rolling their eyes and talking to the fridge. Shroud followed closely as they did this, and they took out a small plastic bag from the freezer and swapped it with one in the fridge, grabbed a bowl from a cupboard as they walked to the sink, and ran the water until it ran warm. The system they had seemed to work alright. One bag comes out, and one goes in. The fridge always had two bags in it, one ready to go and one still defrosting. By the time it was ready to feed Shroud again, there was always one ready. 

“You are spoiled, you know that?” Blake looked down at Shroud and yawned. He meowed again and walked in a circle around their feet. “You know how this works. You don’t like it cold, remember?” they reminded the cat. “So you can wait a few minutes.” Blake filled the bowl with water and set the plastic bag of defrosted cat food in it to warm up. 

The tea kettle sounded and Blake pulled it from the burner before it could get too loud. They didn’t want to wake up Weiss if she still needed sleep. Especially on her day off. Still, they wanted to talk to her before having to head out to work later. If she wasn’t up by nine, Blake was going to leave a note. They filled the teapot with water, the smell of lemon and mint already hitting their senses. 

Blake stuck bread in the toaster and hopped up to sit on the counter as they waited for it to finish. Shroud stared at them and meowed again. “We go through this every morning,” they told him. “It’s only been a minute and is still too cold for your picky tastes. If I gave it to you now, you would stare at me looking even more offended than you look right this moment.” The reasoning didn’t seem to sink in for Shroud and he walked to Blake and pawed at their foot which made them smile. 

They hopped down and sat on the floor, Shroud immediately climbing on their lap. “Were you looking out for Weiss last night?” Blake asked him in a whisper. They scratched down his back and he began to purr. “You’re such a good boy making sure she’s okay.” They smiled and scratched behind his ears. “Such a good boy.”

Behind them, the toaster popped and Shroud jumped off of Blake excitedly. Getting to their feet, Blake stepped to the sink to grab Shroud’s food, grabbed a clean plate, and dumped the contents onto it. Shroud walked quick circles around their feet and spun in excited circles as Blake set the plate down. He began to devour the food, tail straight up in the air, the tip of it happily wiggling. The cat food wasn’t Blake’s favorite to make, but he seemed to love it, and they could make a lot of it at once and prepare a couple of months worth in a day. The worst part was watching out for Shroud between their feet while they worked. With a smile, they tossed the plastic bag in the trash and washed their hands. It was now Blake’s turn to eat and enjoy their morning.

  


* * *

  


“Hey sleepy,” Blake said the moment Weiss wandered into the kitchen. They looked up from their book and smiled at Weiss while Shroud walked over and rubbed his cheek and side against Weiss’ leg. 

“Morning, hey,” Weiss yawned and knelt down to scratch at Shroud’s back. “And good morning to you, too. Looks like someone’s in a good mood. I’m guessing you got fed already?” Shroud’s tail stuck straight up and vibrated. 

“He already ate,” Blake laughed. “Speaking of food, though, there’s extra toast, and I made tea.”

Weiss stretched when she stood back up, another yawn escaping her. “Mm, you don’t have to do that, you know? I’ve got some granola bars in the cupboard somewhere,” she protested. The fact was she really appreciated everything Blake did for her, but she still felt guilty for… Well, if Weiss had to pinpoint it exactly, it was existing in the broad sense of the term. Taking up space and being a hindrance. She knew on some level it’s why Blake didn’t invite Ilia over more often. But on another level, she also realized it wasn’t like that at all. Blake would scold her for thinking that way about herself. 

“You live here, and you already help out a ton, so tea and heated bread isn’t anything fancy,” Blake explained. “Plus, I want to ask a favor and I thought an offering would help my chances,” Blake grinned. 

With a fake groan, Weiss rolled her head back in a show of playful protest. “What was it you wanted?” she laughed while grabbing down a mug.

“If you head out later, can you swing by the store and grab a few things? I’ve got a list on the fridge.” Blake slid the teapot and plate with toast over to the empty spot that Weiss always picked at the table.

“That’s it?” Weiss asked and sat down and started to pour a mug of tea. “I need to grab a few things anyway, too.” She took a bite of her toast and looked down next to her to see Shroud rubbing against her leg. That cat… She reached down and he immediately began rubbing against her hand. He always was so affectionate and Weiss didn’t understand it, but she definitely appreciated it. Nights like she had the night before, waking up from whatever strange nightmare she had, Shroud’s company made things easier. On some level, she figured Blake knew that as well, or maybe even encouraged it. How, she didn’t know. Blake definitely had an affinity for dealing with cats, though, and Weiss always felt fascinated by it. 

“Did you need the bathroom at all? I’m going to shower before work.” Blake got up from the table and tucked their chair in before finishing the last of the tea in their mug and depositing it in the sink. Weiss shook her head and Blake smiled. “Alright, cool.” They walked out of the room and Weiss stared at her mug. 

“Oh, shoot, it’s Saturday,” Weiss chastised herself. She got up from the table and quickly made her way to the front room to fetch her phone, unlocking it on the way back to the table. She checked the time and noted it was only a little after eight, but she needed to do quick math in her head. The time difference between the city and where Winter was stationed was… It didn’t matter, it was early afternoon meaning she was free for the day. Behind her, Blake crossed the front room, going from their bedroom to the bathroom, and shut the door. That shutting of the door was the signal for Weiss to know that she was in the clear to call her sister. 

Weiss nervously bounced her leg while waiting for the phone to ring. Calling internationally like that made her extremely worried the first few times, but Winter reminded her that since they were on the same plan it didn’t cost them extra. With the first ring, she stopped her leg’s bouncing and waited for Winter to pick up. Another ring. And another. 

“Hello?” Winter’s voice sounded as clear as ever and it brought a smile to Weiss’ face. 

“Winter!” Weiss grinned.

“Baby sister!” Winter matched Weiss’ enthusiasm. Weiss smiled every time Winter called her that. Without any doubt, her older sister was her favorite family member. The only one to believe in her and her identity. The only one to support her and listen to her. Though, it all became a mess when Winter got sent overseas. “I was beginning to think you forgot about me,” she teased.

Another of the Schnee children cut off from the patriarch’s purse, Winter had to make her own way which happened to involve joining the military. During a period of leave, visiting home, it came to light that Weiss was serious about her transition, and everything around her began to crumble. The day Winter had to return, Weiss felt a great sense of loss. 

“I couldn’t forget you.” Weiss laughed. “I’ve only been up for a little bit. I still haven’t even gotten dressed yet.”

“Sleeping in again, I see. Well, good. I take it this means your meds have been working well for you?” 

“Mm, yeah, I guess. I was mostly exhausted, though.” She didn’t mention the nightmare. There wasn’t a need to worry Winter with it since Weiss was sure it had to be a one-off thing. She simply had a bad day. That was it. 

“And is everything going alright there? Are you still living in the one apartment with Blake?” 

Weiss sighed internally. “I’m still a guest here, yes. I’ve been looking for another job so I can at least pay a fair part of everything, or even begin paying Blake back, but I’m having no luck.” They both knew why. Weiss wasn’t going to lie on her applications and the discrepancies between her legal documentations and who she was slowed some things down. It didn’t help that her parents conveniently ‘lost’ her birth certificate and other important papers, and the process of getting new ones grew into a long, drawn-out process. Having to prove who she was without proof of who she used to be didn’t make things easier, and she refused to put her birth name on any application. 

“If I remember correctly, Blake told you not to worry about that, and they refused to accept anything from me in compensation. I’d suggest not stressing about it too much for now, okay? And I’ll transfer you some more money in a bit.”

And there it was. The part of the conversation Weiss always dreaded. It’s not that she was mad about it. In fact, she was actually extremely grateful for the assistance her sister gave her at times because it meant she could keep her prescriptions filled and have enough for food. Weiss knew that without both Winter and Blake, she wouldn’t be able to do everything she managed. But that’s what she hated about it all. Being dependent on someone else left her feeling uncomfortable after seeing how much such a gesture became twisted and used against her when her father used to be the one providing. “You really don’t need to do that,” Weiss explained. It was true. Her hours at the bookstore had actually been going up. Seniority was working in her favor as others quit. 

“I do this for me, so let me be this little bit selfish, Weiss. It’s peace of mind knowing you still have your medications, can go to your appointments, and eat actual food and not simply granola bars like I know you do when funds get tight,” Winter explained with a long sigh. “So, please, I’m going to transfer some over. Get whatever you need, and there will be some extra for you. Get something you want, too.”

Weiss whined quietly, uncomfortable with the whole gesture. 

“I didn’t get approved for my next leave, so I won’t be able to make a trip over until my tour is up. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Weiss quietly reassured Winter, feeling mildly disappointed. “You’ll be back soon enough, right?”

“Eight months will go by in no time. And then we can get a place of our own if you’d still like to do that.”

“Of course. And, thank you, Winter,” Weiss said quietly. 

“You’re welcome. I’m going to let you go. Be sure to eat something, and let me know if anything happens.”

This was the second thing Weiss hated about these conversations. Letting Winter go. The calls they got to share stopped being every single weekend months prior because of Winter’s changing schedule. It wasn’t easy and Weiss felt the loss heavily, feeling lost without the phone calls to look forward to. “Love you,” Weiss said, as part of their goodbye custom. Winter said her lines, next came Weiss saying she loved her, and it ended with Winter saying it back. Every phone call ended the same, and it felt comfortable and safe. Familiar. 

“Love you, too, baby sister.” And Winter hung up.

  


* * *

  


The house was, in two words, a mess. Pyrrha sat down at the table and pushed empty plastic cups out of the way so she could set her mug of coffee down. Nora’s parties always left the house a mess, but at least a couple of her work friends typically stuck around to help clean up the next day as part of the agreement for hosting the party there. From what Pyrrha gathered, they all lived in apartments and the previous times any get-together was attempted, it ended in noise complaints. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to pinpoint when things turned odd for her. 

The single moment that jumped out was doing that shot with Nora and Yang. That had to be the beginning of the end for her the previous night. Nora had a way of turning one into two, and two into a contest. Thankfully, she remembered someone helping her either escape from Nora or drag Nora away before it all turned messy. Perhaps it was Ren who came to her rescue. They did always keep a good eye out for their two girlfriends. If they didn’t already leave for work, Pyrrha would have found them and thanked them properly, but instead, her only option was to message them at work and- 

Pyrrha frowned. A message from Weiss saying she got a ride home the night before. She knew she clearly didn’t take Weiss home, and she didn’t think Ren did, either. She sent a quick message to Weiss as a ball of tension settled in her stomach.

‘Hey Weiss, wanting to make sure you got home alright.’

She set her phone on the table and sighed, picking up her mug again. She was going to need plenty of caffeine to get going for the day. Not even thirty seconds later, her phone chirped to indicate a new message. 

‘I did. I’m sorry for leaving so early last night.’

Well, at least that was one worry gone. But, one more remained for Pyrrha. 

‘Do you remember who gave you a ride?’

Most of the people at the party wound up staying overnight and left early, or had designated drivers. In fact, Pyrrha was pretty sure most everyone stayed most of the night. Based on the time Weiss sent the message, it meant that it- Another chirp told her a message came in.

‘I think she said her name was Yang? I’m not sure if that’s first or last, though.’

And suddenly, the last worry left and Pyrrha sighed in relief. Though it was odd that she couldn’t recall Yang leaving, but that probably had more to do with Nora than anything. But Pyrrha trusted Yang to not do anything overly dangerous. Not with somebody else in the care, at least. Plus, Weiss definitely would have mentioned it if Yang did. She laughed to herself, opening a new message to Ren. 

‘Thanks for wrangling Nora last night. Also, be sure to thank Yang for me for taking Weiss home.’

Pyrrha set her phone down and leaned back in the chair to finish enjoying her coffee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seems this update is a day late as well as my other fic, Esoteric Banalities. Whoops. I'm still battling my sleep schedule and energy levels, but I haven't forgotten about these all!
> 
> If you've read Sanative Empathy, you know I like to do an occasional nightmare sequence to express anxieties and turmoils and fears some, and I felt that would be fitting here as well. Just a little something to help give some more context of Weiss' headspace sometimes. (And not at all inspired by a dream I may or may not have had off and on for a while. Shhh...)
> 
> Anyway!  
> I hope you all enjoyed this. And I want to give another shout out to Sable for being a proofreader and catching some inconsistencies I accidentally left.


	6. Chapter 6

Weiss sat down with a cup of coffee at the small table Pyrrha picked for them that morning. The two tried to meet once a week somewhere for either coffee or lunch, and Weiss knew it was another way for Pyrrha to ensure she wasn’t holed up in her apartment all the time. Weiss would have argued but she also knew that Pyrrha did have a point; she did like to shy away from everyone when she wasn’t feeling her best, which happened to be most of the time. At least with their meetings, a small splurge for herself once a week for coffee with a friend, or lunch once in a while, would make Winter happy and would make Blake feel better. That isn’t to say Weiss didn’t enjoy spending time with Pyrrha. She did. But Pyrrha always seemed to take it upon herself to look out for Weiss which grew tiring after a while. Part of her wondered if everyone had a point, but thinking too much about it made Weiss feel worse about things so she pushed those thoughts aside except for her therapy appointment every two weeks. For the time being, Weiss was determined to simply enjoy the coffee she got and time with her friend. 

“So…” Pyrrha said, and Weiss had to force a smile because whatever she was about to propose would be something unpleasant… probably. Pyrrha’s smile looked practiced, from a life of appeasing strangers. Though, that was all speculation on Weiss’ part. Whatever the cause, the fact was that Pyrrha did have a very practiced smile for delivering certain types of news. “There’s someone at my work that I think you might get along with.”

There it was. There was the reason. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to do the whole ‘blind date’ thing,” Weiss tried to explain.

“No, no, I get it. But it isn’t like that. I just think the two of you would get along well is all.”

It was clear Pyrrha wasn’t going to back down from offering to help Weiss with what Weiss figured was a nonexistent problem. Yes, it was true she hadn’t gone out to really do anything without being forced to by Blake or Pyrrha in… Weiss couldn’t remember how long. And, okay, she would admit to spending her free time either cleaning the apartment or laying on the couch not really doing much of anything. She stopped reading sometime in the past six months when everything stopped holding her interest. And maybe she did listen to the same three playlists over and over again on her phone. Her therapist did say it sounded like her depression was getting worse based on everything she told her. But she wasn’t feeling depressed. She didn’t feel much of anything most of the time outside of annoyance, anxiety, and whatever unpleasantness that made her cry more often than she’d like. 

“I don’t know,” Weiss sighed. She drank from her coffee to have something to do aside from cross and uncross her legs, fidgeting while feeling put on the spot. 

“I told Matte about you and they seemed interested in at least talking. Maybe the two of you can meet for coffee like this? But not a date.” Pyrrha offered. “Very casual. Not a date. Just talking and seeing how things go. And maybe grab lunch after, or see a movie. But it’s not a date.”

“It’s Matte? Matte Sky? Aren’t they the one that you told me about before who lives on the houseboat? And your repeated insistence of this not being date leads me to believe it is a date.” Weiss knew she would have to accept this offer or else risk disappointing the redhead in front of her. She sighed, much longer this time. “Alright. Fine. I’ll do it. But just for coffee!” she insisted. “I don’t have a lot to spend on outings like dates, okay?”

“That’s fine. I’ll let them know. What’s the next day you have off? Or when would be best for you?” Pyrrha asked while pulling her phone out. 

“Um, I guess Monday will work?” Weiss offered, already regretting agreeing to this.

“Monday it is. At… eleven?” Pyrrha asked, looking up from her phone. “Can even be here.”

“Sure,” Weiss agreed, feeling utterly defeated.

  


* * *

  


Coffee with Pyrrha ran late and Weiss needed to rush home to get changed for work. She kicked herself for not remembering to switch her laundry over, her good skirt still damp in the washer. It didn’t matter since her jeans were acceptable at work anyway, even if she felt them inappropriate for a professional-type setting. That hangup was her own, though, since everyone else seemed to wear whatever they wanted at the bookstore, dress code be damned. Name badge in hand, Weiss dashed out and met Pyrrha in the parking lot again and she was on her way to work. 

“Sorry again,” Pyrrha apologized for practically the hundredth time as they pulled up outside the store. 

“It’s okay. You got me here on time,” Weiss smiled to reassure her friend. “It was my fault for not noticing the time sooner.” She got out of the car, purse over her shoulder, and smiled again at the redhead in the car. 

“Have a good day at work!” Pyrrha called out as Weiss shut the door. 

Weiss waved at her friend and quickly walked inside. 

“You’re late,” a voice called out across the store. It took Weiss a moment to place where it was and turn its direction. 

“I am not!” Weiss protested as she approached Blake. “I’m still early.”

“Late for you, though. There’s only ten minutes until you punch in. Was getting worried when you weren’t here twenty minutes ago,” Blake teased her. “Everything alright, though?” 

Weiss looked around the store noting the lack of customers. “Yeah, though, slow day?” The bookstore being slow wasn’t something unusual, but having zero customers inside rarely happened. Typically there was at least someone wandering around and browsing. Or students stopping in for whatever reason. Even the regulars coming in to paw through the scifi and fantasy sections before moving onto the graphic novels and manga aisles weren’t there.

“Sorta? We had a pretty big rush earlier, so you’re just seeing the aftermath.” They shrugged at Weiss. “If it stays mellow, hopefully, you and Ezra can get these reshelves done. I’ve already done two carts of them. No clue what even happened last night but it was a mess in here when I got here.”

Ezra was working that night. That would be nice, at least. The two of them had bonded not too long after she got hired, finding commonalities in their shared hardships dealing with intolerant people, and maybe some strong opinions regarding a proposed live-action version of a certain anime series more than a little bit close to Weiss’ heart. It was nice having more people at work who had her back and respected her as her so fiercely. Closing nights without Blake tended to be a gamble of how they went based solely on who the other person to close with her was, but if it was Ezra, she was happy. 

“When I left yesterday afternoon it was alright, but I’m not sure who came in at five. I bet it was Bryce, though,” Weiss scrunched her face in irritation.

“Ugh, Bryce. I need to talk with the boss-man and see what we can do about him because it’s unfair to everyone working with him,” Blake sighed. “Anyway, go put your stuff away and punch in. Then come help me with this cart.”

  


* * *

  


It didn’t take long for Weiss to shove her purse in a locker and put on her name tag lanyard. She had to crouch down to put her stuff in her locker, and when she stood up, the resulting head rush caused her to frown. She didn’t feel dizzy exactly, but she did feel weird. By the time she returned to the floor, a customer had finally come in but made a beeline straight for the restroom, but something about her seemed odd. She could hear Blake snort out a quick laugh on another aisle, and Weiss walked around a corner to see what was so funny. 

“Did you see that lady who came in? She’s been in three times this week. Goes right to the restroom, and when she comes out, looks at the same two children’s books for ten minutes, puts them both back, and leaves. Some people don’t realize they can simply use the restroom without having to put on a whole charade of pretending to be a customer,” Blake explained with a sigh, shaking their head. 

“So that’s why she looks familiar,” Weiss shrugged before picking up a stack of books to put away.

“Oh, I wanted to let you know I’ll probably be late getting home tonight, but I’ll feed Shroud before I head out, so don’t believe his lies.” Blake picked up another stack of books and walked around to the other side of the shelves in front of Weiss. 

“You and Ilia don’t always have to go out to do stuff on my account, you know. I don’t want to get in the way of anything.” Weiss spoke before she thought about it and instantly regretted opening her mouth. Though, on some level, she was glad to be voicing this concern before it grew much larger and spiraled out of her control. She already had enough of those going for her considering she was born into a family of problems. “I just mean, I can always go find something else to do or something if I’ll be in the way,” she offered.

“Weiss.” Blake’s voice was soft, but Weiss could hear the undertone in it that gave away the way this conversation was about to go. “You’re not in the way of anything. We both care about you. Ilia’s schedule is just busy and it’s often easier for me to drive over there to hang out for a bit than it is for her to come over to our place.”

“Your place,” Weiss corrected them. “I’m a temporary guest, remember?” She didn’t know why this was the time to start this discussion again. Maybe she slept weird. Maybe she needed to adjust her meds again. Or- shit. Did she remember to take them before running out the door that morning before coffee? Shit, shit, shit. She was going to double-check when she got back from spending time with Pyrrha and was in such a hurry she forgot. 

“You live there, too. You’ve been living there for a while now. You get mail there. Plus, Shroud has taken a liking to you. He doesn’t do that with just anyone, you know. He has deemed you worthy to live in his kingdom,” Blake laughed. 

“Sorry,” Weiss mumbled, feeling more frustrated with herself than anything. The on-edge feeling she didn’t realize was growing all day felt way more apparent then and made sense why she was getting snappy. 

Blake came back around the corner, arms empty. “Are you sure you’re alright?” they asked. 

“I- Yeah. I just-” Weiss sighed. “I think I forgot to take my morning meds,” she conceded, expecting a look of disappointment on Blake’s face, not the one of worry on it. But, no, those twisted expectations happened to just be something of her cyclical thinking as she- No. Stopping her thoughts before they got too out of control. She wasn’t going to panic. Not if she had any control of it. Her heart rate spiked and she took a deep breath. Without her anti-anxiety med, the caffeine in her caused a rush inside her that felt too much. But, she was going to be okay. She would be alright. This happened before without issues. 

“Do you still have the backups in your purse?” 

Weiss shook her head. “I forgot to refill that,” she admitted quietly. 

“What about your other ones? The panic attack ones?” 

Right. She forgot about those. That would certainly calm her down, but the rest of her shift would certainly be slower. With a nod, she started walking to the breakroom again with Blake following behind. They stopped next to the hallway and watched Weiss head inside before they turned to keep an eye on the store. 

Weiss knelt back down and opened her locker before digging through her purse in search of the pill fob she kept inside. It didn’t take long to locate since it always managed to sink to the very bottom. One tiny tablet under her tongue later, she tucked everything back in the locker and returned to the floor. 

Blake smiled at her. “I’ll run your pills by before heading to Ilia’s if you’ll be alright for another hour.”

“Thank you,” Weiss sighed. “Can’t believe I did that again.”

“It’s fine. These things happen. Let’s put some more books away and take it easy for now,” they smiled. Blake, looking out for Weiss yet again. While thankful, Weiss certainly felt indebted.

  


* * *

  


“Will you stop that?” Weiss snipped, crossing her arms as she turned around to see Ezra right behind her. The redhead only looked at her with a wide grin. “I’m not going to tell you,” she hissed. 

“Oh come oooooon,” he whined. “I tell you about all of my dates.”

“This isn’t a date!” Weiss hissed and rolled her eyes. “Besides, I never ask you about your dates, you just unload the information on me whether I want it or not.” 

“Yeah, because I know you’d say no otherwise,” he shrugged. “Plus, something, something, trans solidarity. And I need someone who gets it when I complain about when guys are jerks.”

“I say no because I don’t want to know, thank you,” she sighed and uncrossed her arms. “You’re lucky we’re friends or I’d have punched you by now.” She scowled at Ezra before laughing. “But, if you REALLY need to know, it’s someone Pyrrha works with.”

“So, a blind date set up by the college friend?” His grin widened. “Let me guess your type…” He closed his eyes and placed his fingers on his temples. “Taller than you, aaaaand you strike me as the type of girl who would appreciate bad jokes.” He opened his eyes to see Weiss rolling her eyes harder than she ever had. 

“I think we’re done playing this game,” she sighed and wandered to the front of the store, Ezra trailing behind her. 

After Blake dropped off Weiss’ meds, she definitely started feeling better. Ezra managed to tell almost immediately that Weiss wasn’t feeling her best and his remedy for the situation was to annoy her until she started talking. A remedy which worked, Weiss would admit, only not to him. Working at the bookstore, even on her worst of days, was better than any day spent shadowing her father at the family business. If she had to guess, Weiss was pretty sure over half of the staff at the store were represented by at least one letter in the LGBTQ acronym. 

“Okay, seriously, you’re going on the date, right? Or, not-date. Whatever you want to call it. You’ve gotta get out there,” Ezra encouraged Weiss as he caught up to her. “Even I know you hole up in that small apartment, watch whatever series you happen to be working through on your laptop, and hang out with Blake’s cat until it’s time to go to work again. It’s sad. Your life is sad. You’re sad. I’m sad thinking about you and your sad life.” His eyes locked with hers and he tilted his head forward for emphasis. “Don’t be a sad sack.” 

“I’d roll my eyes again, but last time really hurt, so just pretend I’m doing it right now,” Weiss frowned, one hand on her hip. “I already told Pyrrha I would go.”

Ezra grinned. “That’s my girl. I expect you to tell me all about it after, or I’ll keep bothering you until you do.”

Weiss crossed her arms and sighed. “Please explain to me why we’re friends again?” she teased.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of the week means a new Quotidian Solicitude chapter!  
> Finally, I get to bring in Ezra. If you've read my other two fics, Sanative Empathy and what I have up of Esoteric Banalities so far, you'll probably recognize the name. 
> 
> A small shift to my upload schedule. Instead of hard-set days of the week, I'm making it so the first half of the week is when you can expect the next chapter of Esoteric Banalities, and the last half of the week is when you can expect the next chapter of Quotidian Solicitude. I've been having some difficulties on my end, so set days are a bit difficult to keep right now. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for sticking with this one so far. It means a lot. ♥


	7. Chapter 7

“Will you get out of here? Go, I don’t know, clean something,” Qrow grumbled at Ruby, shooing her out of the kitchen of the restaurant. 

Yang watched the exchange with a smirk. She knew their da wasn’t exactly upset about anything major. Mild frustration knit his brow as he attempted to flip another pancake only for it to fold in half and become misshapen. Ruby’s instructions didn’t exactly help the situation. For all of her expertise making them, and her willingness to teach, their da’s stubborn independence got in the way of things sometimes. There were reasons he didn’t cover the breakfast shift very often. 

“Here, let me do it,” Yang told him while trying not to laugh. 

“I can do this, thank you,” he grumbled. 

Yang watched in amusement, leaning back against the counter to watch him try again. He had the pouring of batter down to a science. Near perfect circle. Even distribution. The man was impressive in the kitchen sometimes, but the next part would prove to be the trouble. Yang folded her arms, corners of her mouth tugged up into a smile and waited. She could tell he was deeply focused, hand gripping the spatula handle tightly, counting down the time until he needed to flip it. In one quick motion, he slipped the flat metal under the pancake and flipped it without folding it in half or letting it fall. 

“Hah!” He waved the spatula at the pancake threateningly. “I finally got you, you bastard,” Qrow growled. 

“Hey, Ruby,” Yang called out. “Da finally flipped a pancake.” 

“Dad would be so proud,” Ruby replied as she appeared in the doorway, grinning. “Buuut we need two more for the order. Soooo, either let me or Yang do them.” 

“Let me have my victory,” Qrow playfully pouted, handing the spatula to Ruby when she approached and thus relinquished the kitchen station. He tousled her hair as he went and began making more coffee. 

“We’re both very proud of you for being able to make a pancake,” Yang explained and pat a hand in the middle of his back. 

“I seem to remember someone else having trouble making pancakes before, too,” Qrow teased. “A certain daughter, I believe. What. Was. Her. Name?”

“This is about you and your victories, not me and mine. Stay on topic here.” She nudged his side, and he nudged her back.

“Whatever you say, firecracker. Also, did we leave your dad out there alone?” Qrow looked over to the doorway and he and Yang both guiltily grimaced. 

“I’ll go out there,” Yang laughed and jogged out the doorway.

  


* * *

  


At five minutes to eleven, Weiss checked her phone for the time. She did it again at two minutes to eleven, one minute to eleven, eleven, one minute after eleven, and finally stuck her phone in her purse to stop herself from checking it every minute. Her nerves got the better of her and she shifted her posture, sitting straighter as she watched the people coming and going from the cafe. Etiquette dictated she wait until her not-date arrived before getting something for herself, and if there was anything to stick with her from her upbringing in the Schnee residence, her manners and social etiquette certainly weren’t the worst things. Feet crossed at the ankle, hands folded on her lap, back straight. She was a proper young lady fit to appear at any high society social gathering, except… Black jeans and a blue blouse typically weren’t proper high society dress. 

She wasn’t part of that world anymore, Weiss reminded herself. She didn’t have to attend functions and gatherings simply for social clout at the request of her father. Joining him as he tried to work his way up the social ladder always felt some level of desperate that even Weiss found secondhand humiliating, and she loathed the man. 

This was different. No need to revisit those memories. She wasn’t forced into this and could leave any time she wanted to. It would be rude, sure, but there was no danger aside from hurt feelings. Weiss did not have to do anything and that reminder felt liberating. Waiting for her not-date in a cafe she felt familiar with and knew the staff to be accepting, wearing something she felt comfortable in, and even a little bit cute. Or, if not cute, she at least liked the way her jeans made her legs look. And her blouse showed off the slight curve of her chest enough for it to be noticeable. Her life had come a long way from only a few years before. 

Weiss couldn’t wait anymore and she pulled her phone back out. Eleven-eleven. She wondered if something happened and why Matte hadn’t messaged her to let her know they would be running late. Everything was okay, though, Weiss told herself before relaxing back into the chair. The one problem with sitting properly for so long that bothered Weiss the most was it caused her back to become stiff. The problem with appearance over comfort. 

It wouldn’t be considered rude to read while waiting for her not-date to arrive, would it? She couldn’t remember. Oh, who was she kidding? She didn’t want to be part of a proper society anymore. She only wanted to be herself. Someone who would be upset that the person they were meeting began reading while they ran late really wasn’t the type of person she would feel comfortable spending a lot of time with anyway. It would remind her too much of her old life. Decision made, Weiss opened up the reading app she preferred and picked up where she left off in her book.

  


* * *

  


“Is that…?” Pyrrha mumbled and sat up taller to get a better view. “It better not be.” She stood up from her seat at a small metal table and walked a few steps closer to the street to get a better look. A figure across the way caught her eye and instantly her mood dropped.

Beside her, Ren raised an eyebrow and tried to look where she was gazing. “What are we looking at?” they asked, approaching her side and standing next to her, shoulder to shoulder. 

Pyrrha frowned with a sigh, leaning against Ren. Despite the small height difference, she still liked leaning on her partner as if they were a lot taller. The closeness meant a lot to her and gave her a physical way to express her feelings for Ren. “Pretty sure that was Matte going into the store over there,” she explained bitterly. “Should I go say something?”

Ren frowned and hummed in thought. “Matte as in… the person you set Weiss up with. The person who should be about thirty minutes into a date right now with your best friend? That Matte?” Pyrrha nodded, but Ren grabbed her hand, threading their fingers with hers. “Let’s sit back down. You said before how Weiss didn’t seem overly enthused about the date idea, right? Perhaps you can message her and tell her Matte had to cancel and you talk with Matte later. I don’t think it would be good to force things.”

Pyrrha followed her partner back to the table and took her seat again. Their quick smoothie date while running errands turned sour, she thought. Or maybe she did this herself in trying to set Weiss up with someone again. “You’re right,” Pyrrha agreed, already pulling her phone out. “Let’s see… ‘Hey Weiss, Matte had to cancel last minute. I’m sorry.’ Or should I add more?” She looked to Ren and their pensive expression. 

“That should be fine,” they agreed. “We should get going, though. We still need to stop by the hardware store.”

“And we can grab lunch at the new noodle place near there before we pick up Nora,” Pyrrha smiled, already feeling a little better. Being out with Ren on the rare day where their days off aligned was a treat. She got to spend plenty of time with Nora, just the two of them, and there was also all of the time the three of them got to spend together. Pyrrha wasn’t complaining about either of those, but she did miss spending one on one time with Ren like this. There was something about them that she couldn’t place her finger on. A peacefulness, or gentleness. They made her happy and that’s all that mattered. 

“Right. Hardware store, then lunch,” Ren smiled.

  


* * *

  


When the half-hour mark passed, Weiss gave up her etiquette and got a coffee for herself. If her not-date was going to be so late, then it would be on them for the breach of manners. Keeping a lady waiting seemed to be much worse than ordering a drink ahead of time. She was about to start reading again when her phone buzzed alive with a new message. From Pyrrha. Not who she was expecting a message from, but whatever. 

‘Hey Weiss, Matte had to cancel last minute. I’m sorry.’

Weiss frowned at this. She knew Pyrrha long enough to find the message suspect. Matte didn’t just cancel on her. Something more happened and, if Weiss were to guess, she got stood up but Pyrrha wanted to not make her feel bad about it. It wasn’t the first time she got stood up on a- No, it wasn’t a date. She didn’t get stood up on a date, she got stood up on a simple meeting. The person didn’t want to even meet her. Weiss sighed and closed out the message, switching back to her book. She was already at the cafe, and she already had a coffee. There didn’t seem to be much a point in leaving just yet. Not when Blake would ask what happened. 

Blake, though. Weiss didn’t want to explain to them about another instance of this happening. 

No. This was going to be a good day for her. She didn’t want to even go on the not-date in the first place, so this worked out. She would enjoy her coffee, read her book, and maybe treat herself to lunch somewhere. It’s what Winter would tell her to do. And maybe she would get that skin cream she kept putting off getting to use after she shaved, too. Overly sensitive skin on her neck and cheeks would be a thing of the past. Or was this going too far? Weiss worried only a moment before realizing she didn’t want to walk across town to the store. 

This experience gave her an advantage in negotiations regarding future dates that Pyrrha might try and set her up on at least. Pyrrha… Weiss loved her, but all of her coworkers? Not so much. At least, not any of the people she had met thus far. All of the physical therapist interns tended to be too outgoing for Weiss’ liking. Wanting to go and do things that involved not being at home, or quiet places. Though, Weiss knew it wasn’t fair to judge all of them from that. And lording this over Pyrrha wouldn’t be fair to her, either. She was simply being bitter because it felt less vulnerable than falling to her insecurities. 

Weiss set her phone on the table and picked up her coffee. Today couldn’t be a bad day. She didn’t want it to be a bad day. Not another one. Lunch seemed a good idea and she was feeling hungry. If she could manage to spend another two hours outside of the apartment, Blake would feel better, Winter would feel better, Pyrrha would be happy for her. Her therapist would be happy she did something for herself, like go out to lunch, instead of relying on other people for her motivation if she twisted the truth a little. Weiss would simply need to be sure and omit the fact that making Blake, Winter, and Pyrrha happy were her first thoughts about the plan. Or were they? Weiss took a drink from her cup and sighed. 

Thinking more about it, Weiss felt confident that her plan to make the day a good one came before the thoughts of her friends and sister and that seemed good enough.

  


* * *

  


The dull roar that once filled the restaurant from the number of people inside, all talking at once, faded to a comfortable mumble. The lunch rush tended to peak earlier in the day than other places from what Yang could tell. Most of their regular customers tended to be people on lunch breaks working in the area coming in to pick up to-go orders and the occasional group of older folks that Yang wouldn’t be surprised if they ate dinner at five and were in bed by seven. All of the times she worked the opening shift, the place seemed busy right from the start. Which was good. She had to remind herself that it was the family business and staying busy was good. Still, she felt ready for a break. 

“Run this out to table three for me,” her dad told her and she turned to see him handing her a plate of fries. “Please?” he added with a cheesy grin. 

“Sure thing,” Yang laughed and made her way to the dining area, plate in hand. Table three was easy to spot since it was front and center, and when she approached the older gentleman seated there smiled at her. He looked familiar, but Yang couldn’t place his name. She only remembered him as someone who came in for an early lunch twice a week, though he appeared to be a little later than usual that day. 

“Ah, thank you,” he grinned. “Just in time, too.” 

“Enjoy,” Yang smiled back at him and was headed into the back again. Feet. Tired. She needed to be off of them for a few minutes, and with her mam at the counter, her mom making rounds around the dining area, and Ruby running orders, Yang felt it time she got a break. “Taking a ten,” she called out. 

“Want anything to eat?” A mop of dusty blond hair peeked out from the kitchen, blue eyes seemingly emphasizing the question with parental concern only her dad could muster. 

“Not right now. Maybe when I get off, though.” Yang smiled and waved her dad off as she passed the entryway and pulled her apron off, sitting at the counter as her mam approached. 

“It’s about damn time you took a break. Trying to make the rest of us look bad, here?” Raven teased. 

“You do a good enough job of that on your own,” Yang laughed and winked. 

Raven rolled her eyes. “My child, the comedian.” Yang was ready to make a retort but something caught her eye. Something familiar. Or, more accurately, someone familiar. And they seemed to have caught the eye of her mam, too. Or, more accurately, Raven smirked when she caught Yang staring at the girl through the window. Brilliant white hair and icy blue eyes. “Growing up before my eyes and noticing girls.”

“Maaam, you know I’m gay. You’ve known this for a while,” Yang sighed and turned to look at Raven. 

“Yes, I remember. But a mother can still tease. Take that away and what do I have left? Your mom is the responsible one, not me,” Raven smirked. 

“I think that’s the girl I gave a ride home to the other night, though. At least, I’m pretty sure she is.”

“Well, if she comes in, you should definitely talk to her.” Raven pat Yang on the arm. “Looks like she’s seen you, too.”

“Hmm?” Yang hummed and looked over to the window again, eyes meeting with Weiss’ gaze with a look of confusion crossing the white-haired girl’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> A couple of days late on this, but I decided to adjust my upload schedule a bit to make up for the slump I was in at the beginning of the week that kinda... made me not upload a chapter of Esoteric Banalities until a couple of days ago. (Been dealing with some rough seasonal affective disorder on top of everything lately, but I'm managing. Sun's coming out more and I've been feeling okay off and on)
> 
> Anyway!  
> A rather Yang-centered chapter this week. I hope you're all enjoying this story.  
> If you haven't seen it yet, and are interested at all, I've got a [holiday one-shot for Quotidian Solicitude up.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28332507)  
> Only very minor spoilers for this story, but nothing that couldn't be discerned from the tags on its one anyway. 
> 
> Thanks for reading, and I hope you're all well~ ♥


	8. Chapter 8

Weiss didn’t know what she was looking for as she wandered down the sidewalk. She passed a number of restaurants already, but nothing really jumped out to her. A deli, a small Italian restaurant, another cafe, all of them didn’t catch her attention. The deli, she remembered, wasn’t awful, but the last time she was in there, one of the workers looked at her strangely, and she didn’t want to deal with that. Italian food sounded like it was too much for her stomach right then, too. The cafe was out simply for the fact their coffee tasted terrible. Weiss had standards. 

The ramen place that Blake took her to before sounded good, but did she want to walk that far? It would take her at least twenty minutes to get there and that felt like too much. The dramatic streak in her wanted to complain about perishing before ever making it to the ramen place, but without anyone around to hear it the gesture felt hollow. With a sigh, Weiss continued to walk past storefront after storefront, idly glancing through the windows at various displays. Small boutiques, insurance offices, a stationery store, a pizzeria… She didn’t know what she wanted but felt she’d know it when she found it. If she found it, that is. In the meantime, window shopping took her mind off of the not-date that was not meant to be. 

She would need to find something to eat soon enough, though, or else risk getting lightheaded. Being brought down by indecision, her greatest weakness. Weiss stepped around a puddle on the sidewalk. Had it rained? It definitely hadn’t. Odd. Best not to think about what the puddle could be, she reminded herself and stepped past it with a quickened pace. The city always held surprises and, Weiss learned, most of them were not pleasant. The world was always interesting and that was what she held onto to get by. Well, that and the comfort of hiding away from the outside world with wifi and headphones. Not that she was escaping reality or anything. No. A Schnee would never do that. A huff of amusement and small smirk later and Weiss shuffled up to the crosswalk to wait behind a woman in a suit for the light to turn. 

Could she pull off wearing a suit like that someday? Or were her shoulders too broad for something like that? Maybe if she chose a more flared skirt rather than trousers or a classic pencil skirt. The jacket would definitely need to be tailored or else it would look like she was drowning in it. And the look on her father’s face, if she were to appear so well put-together like that, would be priceless. Maybe the vein in his forehead would pop out like the time she first told him she was trans. Terrifying at the time, Weiss did like to think of the face he made being the reaction he would make to how she lived her life, too, and it typically made her feel better. But back to the suit idea, Weiss looked the woman over again and her heart nearly stopped when she met eyes with the woman. 

Shit. Avert gaze. Look away. Don’t be weird about it. 

She forced a smile, just like her upbringing taught her, and looked straight ahead to the other side of the street. In her peripheral, she noted the woman looked away, too. Crisis averted. Two people approached from behind and Weiss felt hyper-aware of their presence as the wait continued for the light to turn. If she didn’t know better, the light was purposefully waiting to turn until it tormented her just a little longer. Make her proposed good day a little more awkward. 

And the light turned, the crosswalk sign lighting up, and everyone briskly crossed the street. The two people behind her turned down the sidewalk away from her and the business-looking woman jogged ahead, her shoes clacking on the sidewalk, and entered what Weiss could only guess was yet another insurance office. She got confirmation as she passed it that it was, indeed, another insurance office. 

Ahead, Weiss saw another restaurant. This time it looked to be a locally run diner of some sort. Blackbird’s Kitchen. As she approached, she fully intended to keep walking past it. The parking area around the side, though, something caught her attention. A familiar-looking car parked near the back of the small lot and Weiss frowned. Was that blond woman here? Wait, Blackbird’s Kitchen sounded familiar. Weiss tried to think why it sounded so familiar. Someone mentioned it to her before but she couldn’t place who or where. It definitely wasn’t a customer, and if it was Blake, they would have definitely taken her to eat there at some point unless it was terrible, in which case Weiss would definitely remember that, too. Was it Pyrrha? Weiss was running out of ideas when- It was definitely Pyrrha. This was where Ren worked. Meaning it was where the blond woman worked, too. And she was there right at that moment. And, oh no, could she see her? 

Weiss looked up to see through the window and her eyes caught with Yang’s own. She felt trapped. She couldn’t leave without acknowledging her since they clearly saw each other. And recognition had to be as clear on her face as it was for Yang’s face. Waving felt too awkward, even for Weiss. That simply left… going inside. And, she WAS looking for somewhere to eat… 

What the hell, Weiss sighed to herself. She was going to eat at Yang’s restaurant. The girl who she cried in front of the first time they met. Maybe she would be able to apologize to her about that.

  


* * *

  


There she was. The girl she made cry. Entering the building. She was coming into the building. Yang almost froze but a reassuring hand on her arm made her turn to see her mam looking at her with a mix of amusement and sympathy. 

“You want to handle this, or should I?” Raven asked. 

Yang wasn’t sure and realized the confidence she felt that night at the party had to entirely be from the combination of alcohol and older sibling instincts. The two didn’t even share much of a conversation outside of Yang’s own ramblings to her. Weiss. Her name was Weiss, and she instantly remembered the joke she made with her name. Before she could formulate a response, her mam laughed. 

“Finish your break. I’ll have Ruby seat her,” Raven told Yang. 

They both saw Weiss standing at the front waiting, her gaze drifting over to Yang before darting away. Yang could see her trying not to stare and she really felt the weight of the moment stretching out the longer it was she didn’t say anything to her. A single hand gesture from Raven was all the signal needed to direct Ruby to the front. Previous tension fell lax as Ruby guided Weiss to a booth near a front window. 

“So, do you want to tell me why you’re so hesitant to talk to this girl?” Raven asked, voice quiet, as she leaned closer to Yang. 

Seeing Weiss get seated and Ruby joke with her left a strange feeling in Yang’s stomach. It wasn’t jealousy. That was her first guess and she knew it wasn’t that. Perhaps it was guilt. But that didn’t seem right, either. “I’m not sure,” Yang answered before turning to look at her mam.

“Then, and I hesitate to ask this, is there more to this you’re not sharing with me? And may I remind you, we’re in public, so keep it clean.” 

Yang almost choked at the question. “It’s nothing like that! Just, I may have made her cry at the party. And before you-” Raven’s expression stopped her. A deserved expression, no doubt. All of her parents did raise her to be better than making others cry. “That frown, no. I wasn’t mean! I swear. Mam, you know me. All I did was try and flirt a little and she started crying.” She felt flustered with her attempt to explain, the situation clearly not painting her in the best light. To her credit, Raven held her tongue and allowed Yang to continue. “I stopped and tried to cheer her up and got some jerks around there to go away. And when I was good to drive again, I took her home. That’s all that happened. I even apologized, but…” She sighed. “It’s just weird seeing her again. What do I even say, you know?”

“Well, your questionable flirting and sense of humor aside,” Raven started, which earned a frown from Yang. “Just go say hi and properly introduce yourself this time. Without the flirting.”

“No… flirting… Is that possible?” Yang questioned aloud just to watch her mam roll her eyes and lighten the conversation. “Alright, though. I’ll be the one to run her food over to her.”

“Good. Now, enjoy your break. I need to finish this totally important task before your mom catches me slacking off,” Raven frowned, walking away.

  


* * *

  


“Let it go for now. You can talk with them later.”

Pyrrha knew Ren was right. They typically were, and she needed to listen to their judgment a lot more on these matters. She wasn’t going to let the actions of Matte ruin her time with Ren. She scooted closer to the table and looked over the menu in front of her while Ren did the same. Neither of them could remember where they had heard of the noodle place, but it definitely was on their list of places to check out since it opened earlier that year. Pyrrha knew someone had mentioned it to her before but couldn’t place her finger on who exactly. Weiss had told her about a ramen place that Blake took her to, but that was on the other side of town. 

“Know what you’re going to get?” Ren’s voice soothed her thoughts and Pyrrha glanced up at them. 

“I was looking at the pan noodles with shrimp. What about you?” 

Ren laughed. “I was looking at the same thing, but with the fried tofu.” 

That made Pyrrha smile. She nudged her foot forward to touch Ren’s foot, and they moved their foot out of the way at first so she tried again. On the third attempt, they finally understood, a small smile growing. Playing footsie was just another thing that left her in high spirits, easing the stress of earlier. Being out with Ren, and soon to pick up Nora definitely made her day off for her. This was why when her phone chirped with a new message she ignored it. Whatever they wanted wasn’t important at the moment. She would check it after lunch.

  


* * *

  


It was weird how Yang didn’t even say hi to her, Weiss thought. Then again, their meeting was awkward enough the first time they met, and that had to influence her behavior in the present, too. And there she was making everything sound more complicated than it needed to be. The plain facts remained that the party was awful. She cried and made the situation really uncomfortable, so now it was weird for both of them seeing each other again. Maybe she shouldn’t have gone inside and simply continued on down the road to find somewhere else to eat. The longer Yang didn’t say anything, the more those thoughts grew reinforced in her mind. 

That would not ruin her day, though. Weiss was determined to enjoy herself after being stood up. Meeting someone new and going through the whole game of trying to work in personal information to a normal conversation in attempts to get to know someone felt forced. It was awkward and uncomfortable, and the risk of finding out something upsetting about the other person and feeling trapped by the social etiquette of being polite was not something Weiss particularly enjoyed. But neither was going to any social gathering, so this left her in the position of feeling, as Blake put it, ‘shit outta luck.’

She glanced over the menu for something that jumped out to her. Several items had strange names, most likely creations by the staff. Different sandwiches or burgers, or breakfast dishes, all seemed interesting and, Weiss had to admit, it did add to the charm of the place. If the front of the menu was to be believed, it was family-run, and family-operated, save for a few employees such as Ren, of course. Which meant that the girl who seated her was most likely Yang’s sister? Or perhaps cousin? Or was she like Ren and someone the family hired to work there? Weiss supposed it didn’t matter. If there’s one thing she learned after being all but abandoned by her own parents, it was that sometimes you have to build your own family, even if that included your sister who was in another country, your roommate who happened to be your immediate supervisor, and their cat who claimed you as part of their ‘kingdom’ as Blake put it. She certainly had zero room to judge anyone else’s family makeup. 

Weiss was so lost in thought as she stared at the menu that she didn’t notice the girl, Ruby, who set a coffee down in front of her. “Here you are,” Ruby announced and startled Weiss into dropping the menu on her lap. “Sorry!” Ruby winced and apologized. 

After a breath, Weiss picked the menu back up. “That’s alright. I should have been paying attention.”

“Ready to order, or do you need some more time?” 

The notepad and pen in Ruby’s hands made her smile. She recognized the characters on them both as being from one of the action anime series that had gotten popular recently. At a recommendation from someone online, she had given the series a chance but couldn’t get invested in the characters before ultimately dropping it. She still found it amusing that someone would use those for work. “I’m ready,” Weiss smiled. “Can I get the parmesan chicken club?”

“The Tai Special Chicken Club Extraordinaire?” 

Weiss had to check the menu again to make sure, and she nodded when she confirmed. “That’s the one. And can I get it with a side salad?”

Ruby scribbled down the order with a deep concentration. “And what’d you want on that?” She peeked up at Weiss with the question.

“Vinaigrette?” Weiss asked and Ruby nodded while scribbling down the dressing choice. 

“You got it!” Ruby grinned and tucked the notepad and pen in her apron pocket before darting off. 

Weiss slid her cup of coffee closer and took a sip from it. It may not have been the best, but it didn’t taste like burnt sawdust, so that was a plus. She reached for the non-dairy creamer and poured a little in to make it more palatable. After having much better coffee not even an hour ago, she wondered why she ordered more coffee here, but soda or juice sounded way too sweet, the city tap water wasn’t very good, and milk was definitely not something she drank. 

A quick glance around the room and Weiss could no longer see Yang anywhere. Perhaps Weiss’ assessment that she really didn’t want to talk with her was right? It didn’t matter, she told herself. Weiss was going to enjoy her food, enjoy the chicken sandwich with the long name, and then head home to find a new series to watch on her laptop. And maybe do laundry. No, definitely do laundry. Her work clothes needed it, and she was running out of clean socks. 

As she wondered how many good pairs of socks she even had anymore, Weiss found herself looking around the restaurant, taking in the decor and surroundings. Several photographs of the staff hung on various walls alongside different paintings from what looked like local artists. All of the paintings were listed as for sale, too, which seemed interesting. The one closest to Weiss, she couldn’t make out the artist’s signature, but she recognized the scene as a view of the lake not far outside of town. Most seemed to be landscapes, some of the same scenes at different times of the year. Combined with the dark carpeting and red seating, the restaurant felt somewhat homey. Or, at least it felt comfortable. Weiss sipped her coffee and pulled out her phone to see she had zero new messages. As expected. 

Across the way, Weiss caught sight of a woman with dark hair behind the counter watching her. Did… did Yang say something to this woman about her? Or was she…? But, Ren worked there, so it couldn’t be that. Still, something about her gaze felt unnerving. The intensity of it, even with the smile she had. She was a very intense woman, Weiss could tell. 

Someone approaching. Weiss looked to see Yang carrying a small plate over. “The side salad with vinaigrette?” Yang awkwardly smiled as she set the plate down in front of Weiss. 

“Um, yeah,” Weiss mumbled. “Thank you.”

“Hey, I know things were really weird, uh, last time we met. I just want to say I’m sorry for, well, upsetting you like I did.” Yang shifted her weight from one foot to the other. 

Weiss shook her head. “You- you didn’t do anything wrong,” she sighed. “I was having a bad night. I’m sorry for making you take me home so early like that.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Yang nervously laughed before regaining her composure. “I was seriously going to leave early that night anyway, but then Nora dragged me over to do shots, and that was a whole- Um, anyway. Are you doing alright now, though? I mean, after the whole party thing.”

Today was going to be a good day, darn it, Weiss told herself. “It was a long day. I just needed sleep. I’m alright now, though.”

“Good. Good. Anyway, enjoy your salad. Your sandwich will be done soon,” Yang nodded to her and walked away, disappearing into the ‘employees only’ area leaving Weiss to over-think the entire exchange as she slowly ate her salad.

  


* * *

  


Lunch had gone so well that Pyrrha had forgotten about the message entirely. Their noodles wound up being much better than either Ren or she expected. Something Ren said about the sauces they must use went over her head and she figured it had to do with their cooking expertise. Seriously, she often wondered why they didn’t want to pursue a better career in food since they always seemed to know exactly what they were talking about in regards to food. Almost a prodigy in the kitchen. Though there was something to be said about enjoying work, and as long as Ren was happy, she didn’t care. Working at Blackbird’s Kitchen definitely made them happy. 

Even picking up Nora left her phone at the back of her mind since Ren used theirs to message the chaos energy incarnate housed within a human that was their girlfriend. As usual for her after work, Nora lounged across the backseat of the car, shoes off, and talking about what they should all have for dinner. This time, however, she did so between happily devouring a to-go noodle bowl Pyrrha and Ren got for her. 

In the front passenger seat, Pyrrha heard the telltale chirp from her bag of a text message and reached in to pull it out. 

“Matte?” she asked aloud and frowned. 

Ren glanced at her with a quizzical raised brow. “What is it they want?”

“Finding out now, and it better be good,” Pyrrha grumbled. Reading over the messages, though, her grumble turned into a defeated sigh. “I’m such an idiot,” she groaned and rolled her head back to hit the seat. She repeated the motion a few times before Nora reached a hand up to stop her from doing it again. 

“What’s going on?” Nora asked and leaned between the front seats to try and see what the messages said.

“I told Matte the wrong day,” Pyrrha sighed deeply and shoved her phone in her bag to deal with Matte later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> A little bit of news on this fic. I'm going to be taking a small hiatus from it once we hit the halfway mark (there's still another 7 chapters before then, so there's still a little bit). It takes a bit out of me emotionally/mentally and I'm just needing a break from it. I know it's not my most popular of fics, and it is rather personal to me, but I do feel it's important to share some of this all. Definitely going to come back to it, though, so don't worry! 
> 
> Anyway...  
> If you haven't seen it, I have a small Christmas/holiday one-shot for Quotidian Solicitude up. I made QS into a series so it will be grouped together.
> 
> I hope you all are enjoying this fic. ♥


	9. Chapter 9

Thursday night meant family night. Relationship night? House night? Date night? All of those names didn’t quite fit. But it was one of the days where all three of Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora had the evening free to spend together. They had exactly two of them a week where the following day didn’t require someone to be up before seven and they could all have dinner together and relax. Not that they didn’t spend time together and relax as a group other nights, but Thursdays were set aside special for the trio to enjoy. It was also when any major planning happened. Pyrrha knew Nora was antsy to share something big, and based on what both Pyrrha and Ren could gather, it had to do with another big get-together. Also based on what they could gather, Nora was not ready to have another big party. 

“What do you suppose this one is going to be?” Ren asked as they sat down next to Pyrrha on the couch. They interrupted Pyrrha’s string of thoughts and she had to think a moment about the question her partner asked. 

“It’s not cold out, so it’s probably not the slow cooker extravaganza again,” Pyrrha mused aloud while scooting closer to Ren, leaning against them. 

“You mean the Triannual Nora’s Slow Cooker Extreme Slow-Cook-A-Thon?” they smiled. Ren shifted on the couch to better support their girlfriend, letting her lean more heavily against them. “You’re right, though. Probably not that, which leaves us with the Pancake Showdown, one of her various game nights, or the Monthly Movie Fest.”

“Oh, right. We haven’t had the movie night this month yet.” She looked up at them feeling a bit relieved in knowing the major chaotic options seemed far less likely. She loved Nora. Ren loved Nora. But that girl had a penchant for chaotic energy that neither of them could tame. Nora did what she liked and Ren and Pyrrha could only corral the chaos. Movie nights tended to leave much less to clean up and were, on average, much calmer if everybody stuck to the ‘no alcohol’ rule they implemented. 

Ren kissed Pyrrha’s forehead and wrapped an arm around her. “She picked up the box set of those kung-fu movies she had her eye on for a while the other day. Let’s hope it’s a movie night,” they laughed. 

Nora’s triumphant return was marked with a loud shout, the sound of shoes being kicked off and hitting the wall, and the exuberant redhead sliding into the room in her socks across the wood floor, holding up two large bags. “Guess who got food, bitches!”

Pyrrha bit back a laugh as she watched Ren, with a straight face, look up at Nora and say, “Oh, you’re here. I didn’t hear you come in.”

Pyrrha could see the pout forming on Nora’s face before the girl growled in frustration. “You did, too!” She shook one bag of food at them as she crossed into the living room to deposit the bags on the coffee table. “Let me in on this action,” she continued to pout while flopping across both Ren and Pyrrha’s laps. 

“Welcome back,” Pyrrha smiled. She couldn’t resist Nora’s charm or lack of charm. Personality? Character? The girl had something that melted through to Pyrrha’s heart and was why she couldn’t resist threading her fingers through her girlfriend’s hair.

Nora rubbed her cheek against Pyrrha’s tummy and grinned. “Much better.” Ren slid a hand around to Nora’s back and began rubbing small circles over it. “Mm,” Nora hummed, contentedly. “Perfect,” she giggled, which sounded closer to a cackle to the untrained ear. 

“You mentioned you had something you wanted to tell us?” Ren was the one to ask and break the moment of calm. 

“Right!” Nora sat up and scrambled off the couch, rolling off of her partners and onto the floor before climbing to her feet. She jumped up as if nothing happened, hands on her hips, standing in front of Ren and Pyrrha. The whole display held a charm and from the corner of Pyrrha’s eye, she could see Ren also smiling at her. “So! Next weekend! Well, not next weekend as the one next week, but next weekend as in the day after tomorrow, since tomorrow is too soon, so the day after tomorrow should be fine since Sunday is a slow day for us, and I figured that since we use Fridays and Saturdays as our event days anyway it would be fine, since we finished cleaning up most of the house after the last party, and I don’t want to have another party yet because the last one wound up being a mess, that we could host the MONTHLY MOVIE FEST!” Nora gasped for air as she concluded her rapid-fire run-on sentence, but kept her stance, hands still in place. It was… impressive, especially the booming of her voice right at the end. 

“A movie night sounds good, but we’re still going with the ‘no alcohol’ rule?” Pyrrha asked with mild hesitation. The tone of her voice also alerted Ren to her misgivings about it. 

“Right. No alcohol. Alcohol has been banned from movie night.” Nora nodded enthusiastically, her hair flopping over her face as she did so. 

“How large were we wanting to go for this one?” Ren asked, and Pyrrha also wondered the same thing. 

Nora knit her brow in thought. “Medium-ish?” she offered. “No going crazy. I want to actually watch the movies this time!”

“So the usuals, then? Sun, Neptune, Jaune. I’ll toss invites to Yang and Ruby, too. And I’m sure Pyrrha will want to invite Weiss?” Ren turned to Pyrrha next to them. 

“Weiss and maybe Blake, if that’s alright.” Pyrrha looked between Ren and Nora. 

“Perfect! It’ll be just the…” Nora quickly counted everyone out on her hands. “Ten of us.” 

“Four pizzas, then?” Ren asked aloud as they pulled their phone out to make notes. “And I’ll pick up another case of water. We still have soda from the last party. I guess that just leaves any snacks people want to bring.” 

“I’ll message Weiss real quick and see if she wants to go.” Pyrrha grabbed her phone from the coffee table to send the message while Nora took the initiative to talk to Sun. 

“Yang will be here,” Ren looked up from their phone. “Ruby has plans, apparently.”

“Sun and them will be here, but Sun has to leave early since he has work in the morning. Jaune and Neptune will stay, though.”

Pyrrha’s phone chirped and she tapped open the message with a smile. “Weiss is set to go, too. Blake is going to be gone for the weekend.”

“Alright then! It will be the…” Nora did the math on her hands again. “Seven of us!”

“I’ll still get four pizzas just in case. We can always send some home with someone if it comes to it.” Ren shrugged. 

“Plans done, time to eat,” Nora announced and pulled the coffee table closer to the couch, wiggling herself between Pyrrha and Ren. She hastily opened the bags, pulling to-go containers out and setting across the table. Pyrrha felt excited about the next event, she thought while watching Nora preparing their food. A calm movie night, and another excuse to take Weiss out thrift shopping for something to wear.

  


* * *

  


It was a Friday, and Weiss didn’t want to head home and change after work, feeling as if she would not want to leave again if she did. It was one of those days. She needed to keep going or risk not getting up again, and going thrift store shopping with her closest friend was actually something she enjoyed doing. The skirt and blouse she wore were adequate enough for an afternoon with Pyrrha since they weren’t going anywhere fancy. Or… overly fancy. The stores they had in mind were in the richer areas of the city. 

“Again, I’m so sorry,” Pyrrha apologized. 

Again. 

It was maybe the tenth time she did so over the not-date incident, and Weiss had already gotten over it. The hit to her self esteem lessened when she found out that Matte received an incorrect date of the meeting and didn’t think Weiss was- She stopped that train of thought. “Really, it’s alright. Like I told you every time you apologized, I had coffee, I went and had lunch, it wasn’t a bad day for me.” 

“I know, but I still feel terrible about it,” Pyrrha explained, turning her head to glance at Weiss before returning her eyes to the road. “Let me know what day works best for you and I can help set up another date with Matte.”

There was that word. Date. The other day was not supposed to be a date, and Weiss thought she made it pretty clear. “It wasn’t supposed to be a date,” she corrected her. “And I’ll have to check my schedule later.”

“Right. Not a date. Sorry.” 

“I appreciate the effort, but I don’t need to be set up,” Weiss sighed.

“I’ll stop.” Pyrrha’s voice held defeat in it. Perhaps Weiss finally made it clear enough. 

It felt like too many social things all at once. Actually going to some of the get-together events Nora threw felt big in itself for Weiss and going to them more frequently was huge. She didn’t know how to get that through to Pyrrha and Blake. Of all the suffering she went through in her life, being unable to fully express herself for people to understand her had to be at the top of the list. 

“It’s okay,” Weiss reassured Pyrrha. “Let’s focus on the movie night tomorrow. Do you know what we’re going to watch?”

“Nora wouldn’t tell us, but she did get a kung-fu movie collection not long ago, so it’s possible the movies we watch will be from that,” Pyrrha explained as she took a right turn into a parking lot. 

It definitely wasn’t what Weiss was expecting, though it would hopefully be entertaining. Martial arts movies fell into the category of being extremely hit-or-miss for her and it all came down to the story. And having a female lead always helped. Maybe it was closer to either/or. That seemed far more accurate, Weiss admitted to herself, but she didn’t want to admit it to anyone else. She had an image to uphold of not being a hopeless lesbian, thank you. Figuring out her trans identity was enough work on its own without adding more things into the mix immediately. She would just need to be a hopeless lesbian in private. The car shut off and Weiss realized she hadn’t said anything for a long moment. “That could be interesting.” 

Nailed it. She was good at conversation. 

“Let’s head in.” Pyrrha unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of the car, Weiss following suit.

  


* * *

  


“Another one of Nora’s parties tomorrow, then?” 

Yang turned her head to see her mam approaching. “Yeah, but this one is just a movie night.” She heard another set of footsteps approaching from the back area of the restaurant and the hand placed on her back told her it was her mom.

“And is the girl you like going to be there?” Summer stepped around Yang to stand next to Raven and lean against her. Yang shot Raven an accusatory look, but before she could respond, Summer cut in. “Ruby mentioned her.”

Of course, she did. It wasn’t as if Yang was keeping Weiss a secret. And she did think she was cute. But she wasn’t sure if she liked her. Or if Weiss even could stand her after the couple of short and awkward conversations they shared. Honestly, Yang wasn’t even sure what she wanted to do if anything. “Mom, we’ve only talked twice. The first time I accidentally made her cry and- That’s the same face mam made when I told her,” Yang sighed. 

Raven snorted in laughter and nudged Summer. “We already talked about it.” 

“Anyway, I don’t even know if she’ll be there. I’m going to spend time with my friends.” Yang could tell neither her mam nor mom were convinced and she simply sighed. “Don’t we have work to do that doesn’t involve you two pestering me about my love life?”

“More like lack of one,” Raven mumbled under her breath, but both Yang and Summer heard. Summer responded with a swift elbow to Raven’s side and Yang groaned before trudging off.

  


* * *

  


The extra money Winter had sent her left Weiss with plenty to do actual clothes shopping not at thrift stores, but the guilt of spending money on herself was difficult to get past. The betrayal she felt from her parents still fresh in her mind after… How long had it really been? She supposed depression really had affected her perception of time. Weiss couldn’t remember how long it had been since she moved in with Blake. Certainly long enough for most people, she assumed, to get their act together. Was it an inability to accept help from others because she was simply stubborn and determined to be independent, or did she want to outright refuse help because she was afraid it could be used against her later? The only reasons she begrudgingly accepted Winter’s help were because she knew there was no stopping her from depositing the money into her account anyway, and she trusted Winter to be good to her. But that still didn’t mean she was going to frivolously spend money on things she didn’t need.

Weiss continued to rummage through the rack of jeans in the off-chance something in her size lay in hiding in the depths of the sea of denim. It wasn’t exactly why they were there, but Weiss couldn’t deny that her wardrobe did feel entirely too lacking. Another color of jeans could be nice to add to the mix. Maybe. Or was that too much? Weiss hummed in discontent as she pulled a pair from the rack and checked the tag. 

“Find something?” Pyrrha asked from the other side of the rack. 

Of course, the length was entirely too long. “Not yet. Haven’t found anything in my size yet,” she admitted. Weiss stuck the item back on the rack and kept rifling through. 

“What about these?”

Weiss looked up to see the pair her friend held up for her. They didn’t look bad exactly. The thighs looked like they’d be a little loose and the tapered leg might be okay, but they were in black and she already had black jeans. “Not really what I’m looking for. I’m looking for something in a faded blue or white. But, I don’t think I’m going to get anything today,” she admitted. 

“We can check the place up the road,” Pyrrha offered. She walked around the rack and approached Weiss. “Keystone Consignment. And there’s also Secret Hearts.”

Weiss looked surprised. “Secret Hearts is a thrift store? I always assumed it was… Well, I don’t know what I thought it was. Lingerie or something, not a thrift store.”

“Weiss, we’ve been in there a couple times now. It’s the place that had those heels you convinced me to get,” Pyrrha explained before it dawned on Weiss.

“Oh! That place. Okay,” Weiss laughed in recognition. She remembered. She couldn’t forget those high heels, either. The way they made Pyrrha’s legs look, and the few extra inches of height they pushed her up- Well, Weiss definitely felt a bit envious of Pyrrha for looking so damn good in them and envious of both Ren and Nora for them getting to kiss Pyrrha while she looked damn good in them. A soft blush crept across her cheeks and she coughed to clear her throat. “Maybe we can look at what else is here,” she quickly said as she turned on her heel to head straight for the rack of skirts. 

“Of course,” Pyrrha hummed and followed behind. 

Those thoughts were something Weiss didn’t want to deal with anymore, so she decided not to. She knew whatever feelings she had for Pyrrha were a silly one-sided crush and one that only seemed based on Pyrrha being supportive and nice to her. Being a friend, more or less. Weiss hated how easily she got crushes on some people since it left her feeling awkward around them, and with the help of her therapist, she had gotten a lot better about managing her thoughts and feelings, being able to sort through them and process them. Buuut, that didn’t always work when memories of someone in a skirt and heels popped up in her memories again. Distract herself. That’s what Weiss needed to do. It’s not like she didn’t have thoughts about others in her life like that, too. Blake and Ilia being two others that definitely crossed her mind. Both of them being cute. 

Or, Weiss thought they were cute. The same went for Nora. And the girl from the restaurant that took her order. Her name started with an ‘R’ she thought. And speaking of that restaurant, Yang definitely was someone else who was- 

Weiss felt positive her cheeks were as bright as a stoplight.

“Are you feeling alright?” Pyrrha asked.

“Yeah, I’m- I’m fine. It’s a little stuffy in here is all,” Weiss lied. She only needed to focus on something else to get her mind off of things. The upcoming movie night. Kung-fu movies. And something cute to wear. 

Skirts and dresses. 

The rack in front of her didn’t have a huge selection, but there were a couple of pieces that immediately caught her eye. One being a white peasant skirt that looked- She reached a hand out and touched the fabric to confirm that yes, it was as soft as it looked. It had a little more of a textured look than she was used to for a skirt, the embroidery around it giving it a semi-layered look. And it did look a little longer than she expected when she removed it from the rack. She could simply pull it up to under her ribs, though, and wear either something over it, or tuck it into the skirt to make a two-toned dress look. On a second look, holding it up to herself, Weiss saw that it wouldn’t drag on the floor if she wore it at her waist. 

While she held it up to herself, Pyrrha hummed in thought. “I think that would look good on you.”

“You think so?” Weiss looked up at her friend. “I’m not sure what I’d wear with it, though.” 

“Then let’s find something to go with it,” Pyrrha told her matter-of-factly which made Weiss think. 

Weiss wasn’t sure what changed in her, or when it changed, to make her give in to Pyrrha’s suggestions to get clothing for herself. It definitely happened before Weiss moved in with Blake, and near the end of her time in college. “Do you remember when you convinced me to get my first dress?” Weiss’ tone implied she was looking for a date rather than a memory. 

“It’s been a while now, hasn’t it? Before you worked at the bookstore at least,” came the reply. Pyrrha stopped in front of a display of blouses. 

“I just can’t remember when that was,” Weiss shrugged as she stepped next to her friend. “That was the first time we went thrift store shopping though, wasn’t it?”

“It was, indeed,” Pyrrha laughed. “What brought this on?”

“Hmm?” Weiss hummed. “Oh, just thinking. You saying we will find something to go with this reminded me of that time is all. You convincing me to get my first dress. Saying how good I looked in it, but we both know it was the wrong cut for me and made my shoulders look weird.”

“We know that NOW,” the correction came. “At the time we didn’t. I still stand by what I said back then. You were cute in it. Your very first dress. Did you keep it?”

“Oh gods, no. It was a casualty of the first purge father did. It went up in flames in the fireplace,” she explained. 

“That’s right,” Pyrrha sighed. 

“Let’s find something to go with this and I’ll be set.” Weiss held up the skirt.

“Let’s,” Pyrrha agreed.

  


* * *

  


Weiss caved to peer pressure.

She didn’t intend to, and she wasn’t happy she did it, but… Here she was, walking up the stairs to her apartment with bags containing an entire outfit for the next day. It didn’t take much for Weiss to give in when Pyrrha talked up how good she would look in different things, which was exactly why she hesitated to go shopping with her in the first place. 

It started with the skirt. And followed up with finding a top to go with it; a pale blue scoop neck tee shirt. In fact, it was the first tee shirt she owned since transitioning and she, admittedly, didn’t hate it. 

But Pyrrha wasn’t done with her yet. No. The shirt and skirt needed something to go with them. This is where the denim jacket came into play. The pair had to find another store for that one. Secret Hearts was the lucky store since it seemed someone in Weiss’ exact size donated a large collection of things. Several jackets on the rack fit her perfectly, but the others definitely did not fit her style. The denim jacket, though, fit her like a glove and she had to admit it did look nice on her, which made her caving to Pyrrha’s insistence that she purchase it all the easier. 

What outfit would be complete, though, without a pair of shoes to go with it?

Pyrrha’s logic of Weiss’ two pairs of shoes being too formal for such a casual look DID make sense. Weiss didn’t like it, but she did make sense. 

And a third stop was made. Weiss didn’t want to, but Pyrrha insisted, and a compromise was made. The shoes would be new, but only from a discount shoe store, and there just so happened to be one on the out-of-the-way route Pyrrha took on their way back home. What a crazy coincidence. 

The final part of Weiss’ outfit, the shoes, were finally picked out. A pair of low-top canvas sneakers in navy blue. Weiss did kind of love them even if she would remain firm in her beliefs of Pyrrha ‘bullying’ her into this all… Even after Pyrrha offered to pay for the shoes and jacket… And after Weiss refused, insisting on paying herself. 

Stepping through the front door of the apartment, Weiss groaned and shuffled to her couch and dropped the bags on it. 

“How did shopping with Pyrrha go?” Blake asked, poking their head out from the kitchen.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> I'm approaching my uploads a bit more casually until I'm feeling better. I've been busy trying to get everything back on track in my life and make some new daily habits to better take care of myself. I'm rather open about stuff in my life, so I don't mind explaining a bit of it here. I'm on a new dosage of one of my medications after talking with my psych and it's starting to help some, but there's still some adjustments to be made.
> 
> I want to thank everyone for sticking by me through this and being so understanding. It means a lot to me that people are still interested in my writing. I've been writing for the RWBY fandom for only about a year now, and when I look at how much I've done in such a short time, I feel fairly proud of what I've accomplished despite everything going on.
> 
> Again, thank you for reading this. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you continue to enjoy this story. ♥


	10. Chapter 10

“Shit,” Weiss growled as she slammed her hands down on the bathroom counter. Of course, she had to skip out on getting the face cream she was thinking of getting earlier that week because she didn’t want to walk that far. Of course. And here she was wishing she had gotten it because- She leaned forward and hit her forehead on the mirror and closed her eyes. “Shit,” she sighed. 

Her skin would calm down soon enough, but that wasn’t soon enough. She was getting picked up in half an hour and she didn’t want to show up at the party with her neck red and irritated. Why did she put off shaving until so late in the day? Why didn’t she just do it that morning before- That’s right. She didn’t want her skin to be irritated before work. Customers could be much more brutal than people she was friends with. Or, friends of people she was friends with. Weiss cursed her skin and her body and its stupid insistence on not following her wishes by making hair. Chopping it off for so long, it seemed like it would get the big picture, but no… It remained stubborn in its production of those little prickly things that graced her otherwise smooth cheeks and neck. 

Weiss opened her eyes and sighed while pulling back from the mirror. She wiped at the spot where her forehead hit the mirror to clear the small smudge away. Time to rinse with cold water again and hope for the best. 

Blake had already left for the weekend, leaving as soon as they got off of work. Weiss didn’t ask what they were doing, but only knew Ilia had something planned and Blake seemed excited about it. She almost wished Blake was still there to help her with her skin, her makeup, and her hair, though she did feel guilty about asking for so much from her friend. Boss. Friend. Supervisor. Whatever. 

Cold water from the faucet did little to decrease the redness of her skin, but it did feel nice on the irritated skin. She tried different shaving gels, creams, and oils, all of which didn’t make a difference. Every time, it took a couple of hours before it all faded back to normal. The splashing of water, the different creams, it felt hopeless every time Weiss did this entire routine. She reached for the towel nearby and patted her face down. 

A glance to her phone told Weiss she had about twenty-five minutes until Pyrrha would be there to get her. Twenty-five minutes. Well, Weiss thought, she’s done her makeup in less time before. Time to get to it…

  


* * *

  


Knock-Knock!

Weiss froze. It couldn’t have been that long, right? That couldn’t have been the door. There was no way. 

She leaned closer to the mirror to watch closely as she added finishing touches to her eyeshadow. Vibrant eyes pulled focus, and she had the genius idea of possibly trying to distract from the minor razor rash on her neck. Concealer had only done so much without looking caked on. Plus, it hopefully wouldn’t matter in the dark of the car and house for the movies and would be gone before she had a chance to even see herself in a mirror again. The thought of what others might think was a topic she didn’t want to touch with a ten-foot pole, so she didn’t. Willful ignorance only worked on her better days.

Knock-Knock-Knock!

With a groan, Weiss set down her brush. That was the door. She wasn’t- Well… Weiss glanced at herself in the mirror. The look wasn’t exactly good, but it wasn’t bad, either. Maybe she was being overly critical, maybe she wasn’t. It didn’t matter. Pyrrha was there. 

Before another knock came, she was opening the door. Pyrrha stared at her in surprise.

“Oh, Weiss,” she whispered.

“I know. It’s,” she sighed and motioned to her face, waving her hand in front of it. “A mess.”

“That’s not what I was going to say at all,” Pyrrha frowned. “You look very pretty tonight.” The redhead stepped into the apartment as Weiss closed the door behind her. “Have everything ready?”

“Give me a moment and I’ll be ready.” Weiss shuffled into the bathroom, careful to not step on the hem of her skirt. Too late to do too much else, her makeup then would have to do. She packed everything away as neatly as she could into the nearly overflowing makeup bag. To be fair, it contained the entirety of her collection and some of it had been hand-me-downs from Blake for some shades of things that didn’t work for them. It was how Weiss came into possession of both pastel blue and pastel pink eye shadows with matching lipsticks, all of which Weiss was too afraid to use yet outside of the pink lipstick. And even then, it was on rare occasions. 

“Anything I can help with?” Pyrrha called out. 

“Next to my suitcase, there’s a bag. Can you grab my pill sorter out from it? Just the small one. My overnight one.” Weiss scooped up her phone before leaving the bathroom. “Blake said they fed Shroud already, so I think I’m good.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly while trying to think of anything else she may need. With her meds, her phone, phone charger… She should be fine. 

“Don’t forget your jacket,” Pyrrha grinned. “Have to complete the look we worked so hard on.”

Weiss rolled her eyes. “Right. Thank you.” She grabbed her denim jacket and pulled on. “Now I’m ready,” she replied while adjusting her purse over her shoulder, stuffing her pills and phone in, and pulling out her keys.

  


* * *

  


If the jumbled message she got from Nora was deciphered properly, Ren and Yang would be grabbing pizzas on the way back from work again, and that Jaune, Sun, and Neptune were already at the house. Pyrrha was simply thankful that the group was going to be smaller for this than previous event nights. Though, something weighed on her still. 

After the party from before, the unfortunate date match up, and the shopping trip from the day before, Pyrrha wasn’t sure if dragging Weiss to the movie night was going to be too much for her or not. Though, the drive back to her house was not the time to be considering these things since it seemed too late to question it all. Weiss was going with her and the next part was to simply make sure the movie night went smoothly for everyone there. Weiss also wasn’t helpless and weak. She was strong in many ways from what Pyrrha had seen. Rising up from that toxic home environment in one piece, finding work, and overall surviving. Pyrrha didn’t pity Weiss. She was impressed by her. 

Before she knew it, they were pulling up the driveway and parking. Neither one seemed to be in much of a talking mood during the drive, but that was alright. The mood between them wasn’t uncomfortable, and the radio broke the silence. 

Pyrrha and Weiss hadn’t taken more than three steps inside before Nora came bounding into view. “FOOOO- oh, it’s just you two.” Her shoulders slumped. 

“Wow, thanks,” Pyrrha teased her.

“Whaaaat? I’m hungryyyyyy. Unless the two of you brought food?” Nora perked up with her question and Pyrrha couldn’t help but crack a smile. Weiss rolled her eyes while shaking her head, stepping around Nora to deposit her purse on the dining table next to everyone else’s bags. 

“Just us, I’m afraid,” Pyrrha opened her arms while speaking to console her girlfriend. As Nora leaped forward into the hug, Pyrrha had to brace herself. “They should be back anytime now, right?”

“They better be,” came the muffled grumble pressed against her- 

“Nora! Not in front of guests,” Pyrrha hissed, her cheeks brightly flushing. She pulled herself back from Nora’s grasp to extricate the shorter girl from her cleavage. 

The shout of “Get it, girl!” that came from Sun in the front room didn’t help matters any and Pyrrha glared in his direction.

“But… boobs comfy. They help soothe the ache of my broken heart!” Nora protested. “Which wouldn’t be broken if you and Weiss brought food. So you owe me.” 

Pyrrha held back her laughs as Nora continued to pout. “Let’s go sit down for now. Ren will be back with food soon.”

  


* * *

  


Yang hung back in the dining area after she and Ren got back. Seeing Weiss in the main area with everyone made her pause and she didn’t know why. Or, she did, but it had to do with her mam and mom getting in her head. Why did they take such a liking to a girl they never met before? There had to be something more to this than she knew, or perhaps she was putting too much stock into her parents giving her a hard time. Still, she hung back and ate pizza at the table. 

It didn’t take long before someone tracked her down to pester her. 

“Wanna tell me why you’re hiding?” Sun leaned over Yang’s shoulder from behind to ask the question, startling her. “Oh calm down, like you couldn’t hear me coming.”

“Will you- Ugh,” Yang sighed and turned to look at Sun whose face was entirely too close. “I’m not hiding. I’m right here. The living room is right there,” she pointed. 

“She’s gonna think you’re avoiding her,” he said while stepping around Yang to take a seat across from her. “Go talk to her. She’s really sweet.”

“What are you-”

“Please. You’re obvious. You’ve been glancing at Weiss off and on the whole time that you’ve been here. Jaune even noticed it,” Sun teased. “You’ve got good taste, though. She’s an awkward little bean. Sarcastic, little huffy, but I also bet she’s a snuggler when she opens up. I just have this gut feeling.”

Yang stared at Sun with a very confused expression. What did he mean with… any of that? Okay, maybe she was watching Weiss from time to time. But that was to simply stay out of her way and not make things weird for her. It was bad enough making her cry, and she didn’t want to do that again. She REALLY didn’t. And what was with everyone trying to comment on her love life lately? 

“Stop,” Yang sighed and held up her hands. “I already get enough of this from my mam, I don’t need it from you, too.” Though, something Sun said stuck out to her. “Actually, wait. Indulge my curiosity a moment. What makes you say she’s a snuggler?” 

Sun shrugged. “My trans intuition has never steered me wrong.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s a thing. I think you’re making this up.” Yang rolled her eyes.

“Are you trans?” he asked and Yang shook her head. “Then trust me, she’s a snuggler.” Sun smiled as he placed a hand over his chest and winked. 

Yang had enough and got up. “Whatever,” she chuckled, walking into the living room.

  


* * *

  


“We have FOUR pizzas!” Nora exclaimed as she nearly bounced herself off of the couch to emphasize her point, and Weiss leaned further back on the adjacent couch from the offending volume of the redhead. “Eat more! Eat as much as you want!”

“I- I’ll have more in a bit,” she explained, feeling weirdly threatened by the energy Nora exuded. She couldn’t remember why she didn’t hang out with Nora all too often, and then this happened which slapped the remainder around in her skull. Nora was loud and excitable. And a lot. In general. Nora was a lot.

Sitting between Weiss and Jaune, Neptune laughed. “Not all of us are built like a bottomless pit, Nora.”

“Shut it, water boy. We’ll talk to you when we need an expert on drinking pool water,” Nora shot back and stuck her tongue out. 

“Almost drown going down a water slide once and nobody lets you forget it,” he grumbled and flopped to his side to lean on Jaune. “Can you believe this?” Weiss noticed Jaune holding back a laugh and, to his credit, managed to keep a straight face while he wrapped an arm around Neptune. 

She stopped paying attention and missed whatever it may have been that Jaune said to his… boyfriend? Weiss wasn’t sure what the situation with Neptune, Jaune, and Sun happened to be since she only ever saw Sun and Neptune being what she would call romantically interacting. Jaune simply happened to be… there. For both of them. She supposed it didn’t matter, as long as it worked for them, it was none of her business. And even if it didn’t, it still was none of her business. 

What pulled Weiss’ attention was a certain blond walking into the room from the dining area. As with the previous two times meeting her, she wore simple jeans and a tee-shirt, but something about this third time was different. Maybe it had to do with the previous awkwardness of the past two times being gone. Weiss didn’t know. Whatever it was, she was glad that she didn’t scare her away from the events Nora threw. 

“Yang! Just in time! Help me tell Weiss to eat more! She only had one piece of pizza and that’s not enough,” Nora frowned while greeting the blond. 

Weiss watched Yang turn her direction and open her mouth as if she were about to say something but stopped herself and turned back to Nora. 

“I told you, I’ll have more later,” Weiss interrupted and also noting the visible relief that looked to cross Yang’s features. “It’s still early. Plus, I had a snack after work earlier.” 

“Nora, hun, Weiss is fine,” Pyrrha leaned in and spoke quietly to the redhead. “Let’s get the blankets and pillows, though.”

“Right!” Nora jumped up to her feet. “We have extra blankets and pillows for us to settle in during the movie. Stay right here, I’ll- I’ll be right back,” she babbled and jogged into their bedroom with Pyrrha shaking her head and trailing behind. 

“So, uh…” Yang chuckled. “Hey everyone.”

“Come sit with us! We’ll make room!” Neptune called out as he sat up and nudged Jaune to scoot over, leaving a free space between him and Weiss. 

Yang hesitated and Weiss found her looking at her but soon crossed over. “Is this seat taken?” she asked with a playful grin to which Weiss rolled her eyes and patted the space on the couch.

“Feel free.”

Weiss couldn’t see what exactly Sun did, but she swore he made some gesture before calling out, “Heading home, everyone! I’ve got work in the morning.” Pausing, he added, “Hands to each other only, you two,” while pointing at Neptune and Jaune.

  


* * *

  


Yang would make sure to smack Sun upside his head later for getting her so stuck inside her head. The thumbs-up as he shot out the door was anything but subtle. It didn’t help that it started with her mam and mom giving her a hard time, but Sun? And Jaune? And if those two were in on it, that certainly meant Neptune was wise to everything, which… Great, they sat her next to Weiss on purpose. 

It didn’t take long for Nora to return dragging what looked to be a hotel’s worth of blankets out of the room while Pyrrha tossed at least eight pillows out for everyone to use. Jaune and Neptune wasted no time building a nest of sorts for them to share, which left most of the couch free so she could scoot farther away from Weiss and give her space. Thankfully Nora and Pyrrha hadn’t been keen on intervening in Yang’s personal matters, and Ren only gave sage advice such as, “do whatever feels right.” Speaking of Ren…

“Where did Ren disappear to?” Yang asked, looking around. 

“I think they’re laying down,” Weiss replied, and Yang watched her reach over and snag a pillow from the pile. She already managed to secure a blanket as well. 

If Yang didn’t act fast, all of the good ones would be gone. “Makes sense. Was a busy night at work,” she shrugged one shoulder as she stood up to gather supplies for her own setup. Nora and Pyrrha were already turning the other couch into a nest which Ren would most likely join them later. With Jaune and Neptune taking up a good portion of the floor, Yang was left with few options. She could either try and get a comfortable spot next to the boys and risk being witness to whatever making out that would happen later when the lights were out, or she could try and share the couch with Weiss. The choice seemed obvious, though it took Yang a moment to make it. In the end, both her physical and mental comfort would thank her for choosing the latter. 

“Hope it’s alright I’m taking the other end of the couch?” she asked Weiss. 

“Oh, go ahead. There’s no way I can take up the whole thing,” Weiss laughed. She stretched her legs out to illustrate her point, her feet barely going to the middle of the second cushion from her seated position against the arm. She curled them back up again and tucked the blanket around herself as she settled in. 

Yang took the opportunity to scoop up a couple of blankets and began folding one of them over to make a mattress pad of sorts to lay out on the couch. Behind her, she could hear snippets of whispers between Jaune and Neptune and she nudged them with her foot. Jaune looked entirely embarrassed, but Neptune only shrugged with an ‘it is what it is’ expression. 

“We ready?!” Nora shouted and everyone in the room flinched. 

“Volume,” Pyrrha whispered to her girlfriend. 

“Sorry everyone,” Nora sheepishly added. “But, are we all ready? Looks like Jaune-y and Water Boy are. What about you, Weiss? Yang?” 

“I’m ready,” Weiss spoke up.

“Same,” Yang added. 

“Here we go!” Nora raised her voice again and got a bop on the nose for it while starting the movie. She quickly scrambled to reach and turn the lights off as the opening credits started.

  


* * *

  


“Needed a break, too?”

Weiss glanced over to see Yang through the dining area window sitting on the back porch. She raised one finger to let her know it’d be a second, and she opened the fridge to grab out a water. To her right in the living room, the second movie had started and everyone was hardly paying attention to anyone but who they were snuggled up with. Weiss normally didn’t mind these things, but she did want a moment away to get some fresh air and check her phone. The brightness of it in the dark room may have been distracting and she felt it more polite to do it elsewhere. With one last look to the living room, she headed out the door to the porch. 

“I was starting to fall asleep near the end of the last one,” Weiss admitted with a sigh as she sat down on her favorite of the benches. Solid wall behind her with no windows. It felt safe. 

“I noticed,” Yang laughed. “You had a bit of the sleepy-head-bob going. Kung-fu movies not really your thing?”

“It was very slow, but I did enjoy the fight scene choreography. I think that was by the director who also directed ballets,” Weiss explained as she pulled out her phone from her jacket pocket. “But no, kung-fu movies, in general, aren’t typically my favorite. Though, I do like Come Drink With Me, and a couple of others by that director.” She glanced over at Yang who seemed to be impressed. “What?”

“Nothing,” Yang chuckled. “I just wasn’t expecting that.”

Weiss shrugged. At least this conversation seemed to be going better than the last ones, especially whatever was going on inside before the movie. She was glad to see it wasn’t something that was going to last. Yang’s awkwardness really only made her feel more self-conscious, but this… It was comfortable. She opened the bottle of water and drank part of it down. “What about you? Are kung-fu movies your thing?” 

Yang grinned. Of course, they would be her favorite, Weiss thought. “Well, I may not have a favorite director and know all of the fancy choreography information like some people,” she teased. “But, I enjoy them. And action movies in general. And a lot of things. I’m always watching stuff with my mam and sister. Ruby’s been on a bit of a kick with watching all of the movies by some actress. It’ll be a different person in a few weeks. Just how she is.” 

Ruby. That’s what the girl’s name was from the restaurant. She had a name and face for Yang’s sister. And the lady who kept looking at her while she was there would have to be Yang’s… mom? Or, did she say mam? Weiss smoothed her skirt out while she tried to think of something to say. Should she mention her sister since Yang mentioned Ruby? Or would that be too weird and feel like she’s trying to turn the conversation to be about her? This was why she didn’t make friends easily. Getting stuck in her head for too long made conversations uncomfortable for most people, and any second now Yang is going to notice how awkward she was and-

“So,” Yang hesitantly said. Weiss looked over to her, relieved to have the pressure taken off of her. “Feel free to say no to this because it’s probably weird, but, uh…” Yang chuckled. “My family always has this huge yard sale thing each year. I know the other know about it, and they typically poke through everything, but if you wanted to take a look, too, that’d be cool. I don’t know how you are for clothes, but my mom usually has a lot she gets rid of.” Yang leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees and held a can of soda with both hands. 

Clothes, though? Going clothes shopping with Pyrrha would be weird, but at the same time, she couldn’t pressure her into buying an entire outfit at once, even if it was comfortable and surprisingly nice. Pyrrha always did find the best thrift stores, Weiss had to admit. On some level, this would be just like going to a thrift store, but without the middle part of capitalism. “Um, sure. When is it? And where?”

“It’s just at our property. My parents all do a whole barbecue thing, too. It’s a whole thing. Not sure on the date, though, but friends and co-workers get first pick before then if you wanted to come over sometime and take a look. I’m sure mom will also try and get you to stay for lunch or dinner since that’s what she does with everyone who comes over.”

Was this weird? Weiss felt this was weird. Or did people usually invite friends of friends over to their house after only meeting them two previous times? Yang seemed trustworthy enough. She DID give her a ride home the first time they met… after trying to cheer her up. Oh no. Was this a pity thing? Did Yang somehow know about her extremely limited wardrobe? The only other people who really knew about that were Pyrrha and Blake. And maybe Ilia. Though, as far as she knew, Blake and Ilia didn’t know Yang very well, and Pyrrha definitely wasn’t the type to gossip like that. Maybe this was a genuine attempt at being friends? They did joking earlier. They talked about movies. Yang mentioned her family. Weiss hummed and nodded in acknowledgment that she heard what was said to her. 

“Sure, I can do that. How far is it from the restaurant, though? Or, I guess you also know where my apartment is. I don’t drive,” Weiss admitted.

“Oh, it’s a little outside of the city, but that’s cool. I can give you a ride sometime. Why don’t I give you my number and we can set something up later? Maybe you can meet me at the restaurant sometime and I can take you back with me.” Yang shrugged and pulled out her phone. 

Weiss unlocked her phone and opened her contacts. New entry, Yang, and for the number… “What’s the number?”

“Why don’t I enter mine in yours, and you enter yours in mine?” Yang asked and held her phone out. 

With a shrug of one of her shoulders, Weiss reached out to take the offered phone and hand her own over. A little weird using someone else’s phone, she thought, but not a big deal. Only putting her phone number in. That’s it. And… Save. She looked up to see Yang offering her phone back. 

“All set,” Yang grinned. 

When Weiss got her phone back she noticed the time. “Shoot,” she hissed under her breath. 

“What’s wrong?” Yang looked worried. 

“Oh, um, I just… I have to go to bed. I didn’t realize it was so late.” She didn’t know why she didn’t mention her pills. It was time to take them, and that typically knocked her out within thirty minutes. “I’ll see you inside?” she asked as she stood up. 

“Sure thing,” Yang answered and stood up, stretching. 

Weiss felt a little better about her decision to go to the movie night as she walked back inside, plans made to hang out with someone new. She was making a friend without Blake or Pyrrha’s interfering. And it felt good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> This was a fun chapter to write and was a nice break from the past angst and issues Weiss was having in the series so far. These two are so cute together and I love it.
> 
> As far as I've been recently, I will say the shift away from gray skies to a bit more sun lately has been helping tremendously. Having a little more energy is such a pleasant feeling. While I've taken a break from writing due to my seasonal depression flaring, I have at least been brainstorming ideas for things, and I'm hoping to actually begin work on something soon. 
> 
> Anyway...  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for sticking with me for so long through this. It means a lot. ♥


	11. Chapter 11

Weiss buried her face deeper into the pillow, not wanting to face the light just yet. Whispers and people stirring sounded around her and it all felt distracting from how tired she felt and the weight of her eyelids. She didn’t want to hear what they were saying. Didn’t want to be part of the conversations, but her brain kept picking up bits and pieces, unable to leave it be. Pulling the blanket further over herself only did so much to block out the idle chatter around her, though it did make her feel warm and comfortable and more relaxed and that was all that mattered. Still, though, who was out there? And what time even was it? 

Whispers hushed and the sound of people leaving the room was one small comfort. Weiss had nearly drifted back to sleep when a hand on her shoulder pulled her out of the sweet, welcoming embrace. She hummed in annoyance and pulled the blankets tighter over her, but the hand remained, gently shaking her. 

“Weiss?” came a hushed whisper. 

Pyrrha. Why was Pyrrha interrupting her sleep? The cushions next to her sank and Weiss figured her friend sat down, determined to not let her sleep more. 

“Weeeiiisss,” Pyrrha sang with her soothing hushed tone before it finally broke her down enough. 

Weiss pulled the edge of the blanket down to poke an eye out, looking up at the redhead through her own hair that lay spilled over her face. “Hmm?” she hummed in defeat.

“We’re all going to head to breakfast soon and I wanted to make sure you had enough time to get ready.” Pyrrha reached out to shift the hair from Weiss’ vision, and in her newly cleared sight, Weiss could see the room illuminated in warm sunlight. 

“What time is it?” she mumbled, still struggling to wake up. Every morning. Her sleep meds made the waking up process feel so much more difficult, but the alternative of not sleeping at all wasn’t a viable option either. An extra twenty minutes to get upright and out of bed on average felt to be an acceptable compromise. 

“It’s almost nine. We’re going to take off in about half an hour since Ren works at ten.”

It was already nine? When did she even fall asleep? Weiss reached a hand up to rub at her eyes before sitting up to let the blanket fall off of her and pool around her waist and pile up on her lap. “I’m getting up,” she mumbled and looked around. Everybody else seemed to be sitting around the dining table with coffee. She had been the last holdout refusing to let go of unconsciousness. “May I have some coffee?”

“You already have a mug ready at the table,” Pyrrha laughed while standing up. “The restroom is free if you need it, and I’ll take the blankets and pillows.”

Weiss shoved the blanket off of herself and swung her legs around to place them on the floor but found them tangled up in her long skirt, almost falling over the edge of the couch. With a frown she sat up and untangled her legs, fully aware that Pyrrha was doing her best to not laugh. A skirt so long would take some getting used to, definitely.

  


* * *

  


“Sooo,” Neptune broke the silence from the back seat of Pyrrha’s car. He leaned forward to butt in between the two front seats, a mischievous grin pulling the corners of his mouth up. Weiss didn’t like where this may be heading. Neptune butting in typically meant gossip. “You and Yang disappeared for a bit last night.” There it was. 

Weiss didn’t have to look to know that Jaune nudged his side to not be rude. “Whatever you’re implying happened, didn’t happen,” she coolly said, turning her head to glare at him. What was it he meant with that anyway? All they did was sit outside for a few minutes and talk. Anyone could have walked by and seen that they were only talking. None of it was necessarily private, anyway. “If you must know, we briefly talked and then I went back inside to go to bed.”

He raised his hands defensively. “Hey, after what Sun mentioned, you never know,” Neptune smirked. 

Weiss closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “And what, pray tell, did Sun mention?” Just what she needed. Rumors about her and the blond girl. This was it. She took a chance in joining these social outings and this was how they ended up. Time to go back to avoiding them. 

“Well! Jaune-y here noticed that Ya-”

Jaune interrupted, pulling Neptune back while placing a hand over his mouth. “Don’t worry about it. SOMEONE here has a big mouth is all and likes to add to the rumor pool.”

Weiss couldn’t be sure, but by the way, Jaune immediately pulled his hand away she would swear Neptune had licked it. “I swear, Jaune, if this turns into another crack about the water slide- I’m jumping out of the car right now,” Neptune dramatically threatened, reaching for the handle.

“No, stop! Get away from that!” Jaune wrestled him away from the door while wiping his hand on Neptune to dry it off. 

“No wrestling in the car!” Pyrrha sternly told the boys in the back. “This is why Yang doesn’t want you in her’s, you know.”

“Sorry,” Jaune and Neptune mumbled in near-unison.

Weiss turned back to face ahead and leaned her head back while closing her eyes. She was too tired to deal with whatever it was Neptune had mentioned, and she could only hope it didn’t spread very far. Lucky Sun having an excuse to disappear and not face the consequences of whatever he started. Or should it be Jaune’s head she should be after? Oh, who was she kidding? Weiss wasn’t going to follow through with anything regarding this. Pyrrha told her once that the three boys didn’t have much credibility when it came to rumors, and she hoped it would just blow over. Her conversation with Yang seemed normal by all means. The first two had been strange, though. Flirting followed by crying. Then apologies and apologies. And last night could be summarized with movies and clothes. 

“I’ll talk with Sun later,” Pyrrha reassured Weiss, breaking her train of thought. “I’m sure it’s nothing, though.”

“Thank you. I’m not worried, though,” Weiss lied. “We’re going to Blackbird’s, right? Do they have tea?”

Pyrrha smiled and glanced at Weiss. “Summer makes sure there’s some stocked.”

“Good,” Weiss sighed and closed her eyes, leaning her head back on the seat.

  


* * *

  


Everyone piled out of the two cars and into the small parking lot. Sunday mornings, Weiss noticed, weren’t all that busy at Blackbird if the parking lot was any indication. Though the number of cars didn’t mean anything when seven people showed up split between two cars, she mused. She took a moment to take her jacket off, the sun warming up the day already. Most everyone already filed inside by the time she finished. Slinging her purse over her shoulder as she jogged ahead to catch up, she folded her jacket over her arm. As she approached the door, it pushed open revealing Yang holding it open for her. 

“There you are,” she laughed and nodded for her to come in. 

“Sorry, I just needed to take my jacket off,” Weiss explained, slowing down her jog to a walk, passing through the door. At least she hadn’t tripped over her skirt in her hurry. All she needed was to faceplant because she couldn’t function in certain clothing. 

“It’s cool. My mam’s got us all in the big corner booth in the back,” Yang explained and pointed. Sure enough, Nora, Pyrrha, and the boys all squeezed into the round booth. 

“And Ren’s working?” she asked and looked around.

“Yeah, they start in a few minutes, so it’s just the six of us.”

Weiss nodded and turned to begin heading towards the table with everyone. A taller man with almost shaggy blond hair stood next to the table. From the looks of him, Weiss figured him to be Yang’s… father? She couldn’t see his face, but the hair seemed to match enough, and it WAS a family-run restaurant. If it wasn’t her father, it was definitely someone with a family resemblance. She couldn’t hear what he said, but Nora’s voice definitely carried across the dining area. 

“There they are!” Nora called out and stood up to wave Weiss and Yang over. Weiss felt mildly justified in her refusal to go out to eat with Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren more often. The secondhand embarrassment that tightened her stomach was enough to make her slow down, but a quick cursory glance around the room seemed to show everyone accustomed to her antics. Maybe this was a normal occurrence at the restaurant? Or… Normal enough that it got ignored? Regardless, Weiss scurried over to the table to avoid having any major attention drawn to her as Nora settled back down between Pyrrha and Jaune. There hadn’t been enough time to fully ‘put on her face’ before they left and she certainly wasn’t all that happy with the ‘I slept in this’ makeup look. Some people could pull it off, but Weiss felt it made her look extra tired and disheveled. 

Given the choice of sitting next to Pyrrha or Neptune, the right choice was Pyrrha since she was still feeling irked about the car ride and whatever had been discussed. His playful smirk from seeing her approaching with Yang did not go unnoticed and Jaune nudged his side while whispering to him. “Dude, be normal.”

“So,” Taiyang grinned, pivoting on his heel to face her. “You must be Weiss.”

She almost forgot about the man standing there with how distracted she had been by everyone else and setting her purse between her feet. “That would be me,” she forced a smile up at him. Yang gave Neptune a small push and nod for him to scoot over so she could sit down. 

“Dad, be cool. She doesn’t need the third degree,” Yang warned.

“What? I’m cool! I’ve been cool since before you were born, thank you. I invented cool. Before me, there was no cool. Then I came along and then there was!” Tai defended, playfully getting huffy. Weiss couldn’t help but laugh at his antics when Nora let out a cackle. “See? All your friends like me.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Yang laughed. 

“Besides. Drinks! I’m getting the drink order.” Tai announced. “I got everyone else’s down, but what about you two?” He motioned between Weiss and Yang. 

“Orange juice sounds good,” Yang told him. Nora started talking with Jaune and Neptune about something, probably related to the last movie, the one Weiss fell asleep for. 

“And for you?” Tai turned to Weiss. 

“What teas do you have?” she asked.

“I honestly can’t even remember,” Tai laughed. “Why don’t I bring out the tea box and you can pick from that,” he smiled. “Summer always has a mess of options for people.” He stuffed the notepad he had in an apron pocket. “I’ll be right back with that and everyone else’s drinks.” 

Weiss watched him shuffle off to the back, and when she glanced back at everyone she found Yang was leaning her head back with her eyes shut. It made her think. If food and her meds didn’t work to wake her up more, she was going to take a nap sprawled on the couch. Put on her sleep clothes and curl up with Shroud. Possibly start one of the few dozen series in her watch queue when she woke up. Weiss had a plan for the day.

  


* * *

  


Without managing to further embarrass herself, despite sitting next to Neptune of all people, and having her family flit about, Yang finished her food and felt much more relaxed. Everyone needed to stop trying to tell her what she felt, or how she acted. On some level, she knew people worried about her with how hard she took her last relationship ending, but seriously… This was making things worse. It felt like only a matter of time before Nora got involved, and who knew what pushing was being done on Weiss’ end of things. Last Yang heard was Ren mentioning Pyrrha trying to set her up on a date. 

She loved her friends. She did. But sometimes… They were a bit much. Thankfully they calmed down in the year following everything with Neo, but everyone still needed to calm down further. Yang, herself, didn’t even know how she felt about anything anymore with everyone else around her trying so hard. 

“I think we’re gonna take off,” Jaune announced as he pulled out his wallet to leave some cash on the table for food. “Thanks for having us over, it was a lot of fun.” 

Neptune nudged Yang and whispered a polite, “Excuse us.” She slid out to let them get up.

“You guys left too much,” Nora spoke up after seeing the money they left on the table. She grabbed the money to try handing it back to Jaune who happened to be closest. The blond only shook his head and hurriedly scooted off the seat to get away. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Neptune laughed. “It’s us chipping in for food last night.” He stretched, hands above his head, leaning backward, and a series of pops sounded from his back. “See you all later,” he waved as he crossed the room to leave, a confident sway to his hips as he went. 

“Take care,” Jaune added while quickly hopping backward, spun around on one foot, and quickly jogged to catch up with Neptune who was already at the door.

“Well then,” Yang shrugged and sat back down. Having them gone left the table oddly quiet, but not uncomfortably so. 

“What now?” Nora spoke up as she swallowed down the last bit of pancake from her plate. Yang found it easier to not question how the girl could devour so much food, let alone five plate-sized pancakes drenched in syrup. Everybody else had ordered normal amounts of food for average people, but Nora insisted on five large pancakes. 

“I’ve got a shift at noon. Was thinking of just hanging out here until then,” Yang explained. “I doubt everyone wants to hang out here with me, but you’re all welcome to,” she laughed. 

“We should stop by the store before heading home,” Pyrrha reminded Nora. “We need laundry soap, remember?”

“Right!” Nora agreed and leaned to her side against her girlfriend. “You’re definitely the smartest of us.” Pyrrha only smiled and wrapped an arm around Nora. 

Yang glanced to her side to see her mom approaching with the bill, a smile on her face. It was a reminder of why everyone chose Blackbird’s to eat at; the discount her family gave them all. Yang knew her meal wouldn’t be on the bill simply because it would be counted as her free meal for her shift. Everybody else’s food, if she had to guess, was priced between fifty to sixty percent off, if not more. She never actually paid attention to that since it didn’t seem important for her to know. Her mom or da typically took care of billing stuff. Yang was almost sure they wrote random prices down instead of doing any actual math for it all. 

“Everything was good?” Summer greeted the table and set the bill on the table in front of Pyrrha. The move made Yang smile. Her mom knew exactly who was the responsible one between Nora and Pyrrha. 

“It was great, mom,” Yang spoke up. 

“Excellent as always,” Pyrrha added. 

Nora covered her mouth to hide a burp while giving a thumbs up with her other hand. 

“It was, thank you,” Weiss politely and quietly added. It was odd seeing someone with such manners in their group and Yang smiled. 

To Summer’s credit, she was much more subtle about meeting Weiss than Taiyang had been. She didn’t make a fuss, she didn’t say ‘you must be Weiss’ or anything else. If Yang hadn’t been raised by the woman, she probably wouldn’t have noticed the way she looked over Weiss, the smile on her face, and the extra warm way she greeted her. “I’m so glad. Did anyone need refills on their drinks? Did you want more tea, dear?” 

Weiss shook her head. “No, thank you.”

“Oh, mom, this is Weiss,” Yang cut in. May as well get the for-show formalities out of the way. “Weiss, this is my mom.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Weiss smiled at Summer.

“I told her about the yard sale stuff you plan on putting out and she might stop by sometime to go through it.” Smooth, Yang. Smooth. From the corner of her eye, she definitely noticed the way Nora’s eyes lit up and how she smacked Pyrrha’s side. Whatever was expressed with that smack was unknown. The language of Nora and her physical affections, be they smacks, boops, pokes, nudges, prodding, or, on the rare occasion, kicks seemed to be something only Pyrrha and Ren could interpret. 

Pyrrha simply squeezed her hand on Nora’s shoulder, a clear sign for her to, as Nora explains it, “calm her tits.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful! There’s lots of stuff in there that should fit you. You’ll have to come by the house for lunch sometime and make an afternoon of it,” Summer offered. “I even think Ruby may have some stuff in there that is about your size, as well.” 

“That sounds nice,” Weiss answered. Was Yang reading too much into how nervous she looked? Should she step in? It was already awkward enough when she did to stop her dad. At least it wasn’t her mam there. Though, Yang had to wonder what was even going on with her. She felt weirdly protective of Weiss ever since that first night they met. Was it simply her older sister instincts, or was it what everyone else seemed so insistent on telling her it was? Before her thoughts could go too far, and before she needed to make any sort of decision, her mom decided for her. 

“Alright, I’ll let you all finish up,” Summer smiled and moved on leaving the four at the table. Yang could tell Nora had something she really wanted to say and Pyrrha had stopped her. Thankfully. 

Weiss reached down to her purse to begin pulling out her wallet and Pyrrha stopped her. “Neptune and Jaune already covered it,” she told her.

“That can’t be enough, though,” Weiss protested, looking at the bills on the table. 

“It’s fine,” Yang laughed and explained. “They give us all a discount.” She nodded to the check in front of Pyrrha. She could see the frown forming on Weiss’ face like she wanted to protest again but Pyrrha tilted the edge of the bill up for Weiss to see. Her eyes widened and Yang would have laughed if the expression wasn’t so cute. 

“Alright,” Weiss mumbled. She still reached down for her purse to pull something out. What it was, Yang wasn’t sure, but it rattled around and appeared to be something Weiss didn’t want to show the group.

“Anyway!” Nora announced, drawing Yang’s attention with the volume. She noticed the quick glance the redhead made to Weiss. “We should probably leave soon if we want to clean up before Ren is off.” Nora bounced on the seat and Yang got secondhand nauseated seeing the display, remembering how much food she crammed inside. 

“I need to grab my stuff out of your car, too,” Weiss added. 

“We’ll just give you a ride home,” Pyrrha told her. “It’s not far and we can just hit up the market down the street from there.”

Yang got up again and stretched. “Alright, I’ll let you girls sort out your plans,” she playfully smirked. “I’ll talk with you later,” she added with a glance to Weiss. Did she do that? Alright, time to leave. Just walk into the back. Yang waved at Nora, Pyrrha, and Weiss before spinning on her heel to head to the back to endure whatever embarrassment her family would pile onto her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!
> 
> First things first, I want to say that Quotidian Solicitude is going to be going on hiatus after Chapter 15. I still plan to come back to it, but as I've said in the past, this fic takes a lot out of me since I am pulling from personal feelings, experiences, and so on, to write a good portion of it. The past few months have been difficult, but I managed to finish the first half of this fic and simply need a break from it for a bit while I work on something else. 
> 
> That being said, I have started writing something else that I'll begin uploading once Chapter 15 goes up. I don't want to give away too much regarding it just yet, but I will say that if you've been a fan of some of my other fics, it'll feel familiar and you'll most likely enjoy it. 
> 
> Anyway! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Yang's family is always fun to write in this AU, especially in regards to her friends. The same goes for the rest of the friend group. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and sticking with this~ ♥


	12. Chapter 12

Laundry, laundry, laundry. Weiss needed to do her laundry. Running out of clean socks was unacceptable. She felt frustrated for not doing her laundry when she had the opportunity the day before, right after getting back from the movie night. She could have stuck her clothes in the washer, but instead, she curled up on the couch. A glance into her suitcase would have been enough to tell her that she had no more clean socks, and it would have saved her from having to endure the gross feeling of wearing old socks at work all morning. She sighed heavily.

Shroud followed her through the apartment as she anxiously paced about. With the washer going, she needed to find something else to do. The nervous energy swelled in her chest and she just… had… to do… something. 

Dishes. She could clean those.

Weiss quickly made her way into the kitchen only to find that Blake had loaded the dishwasher while she was at work. She could put them away? Right. That was something to do. Putting dishes away. She opened the cupboards and dishwasher while taking out plates and bowls, cups, and mugs, filling the cupboards up again. Shroud hung back by the fridge, happy to sit in front of it and feel the warmth blowing out from beneath it as the motor worked. 

What was she going to do? Weiss felt thankful that Pyrrha canceled the not-date with Matte for her, but her decision in doing so came as a bit of a surprise when only a couple of days before she was going on about how they could set something up again for later. Had Pyrrha decided to pull back from meddling in Weiss’ social life? Or did Matte have a sudden change of heart? Whatever the reason, and before she let her thoughts spiral into self-doubt and insecurities, she chose to be thankful. It was one less thing she needed to worry about going forward, and hopefully, it meant a shift in her friendship with Pyrrha. Maybe. 

Putting dishes away ended before Weiss got too far in her thoughts and the restlessness swept over her again. Sweeping? The kitchen floor always could use sweeping. She wandered to the pantry and pulled out the broom.

Going forward, though. What was she going to do? That’s where her thoughts were at before. Movie night had been fun enough, and Jaune, Neptune, and Sun were nice. Sun a little more up close and personal than she was immediately comfortable with, but he got the message quickly and gave her the personal space she needed. He mentioned something, though, about a big, blond dork. His words, not hers. His talk of how Yang was actually really nice felt oddly placed. If she were more secure in herself, she wouldn’t let those thoughts drag her down darkened hallways of over-analyzing. But she wasn’t, so down the corridors she went. Or would go if the sound of the washing machine ending didn’t snap her out of things.

Shroud trilled in annoyance at the sound, to which Weiss rolled her eyes. “Shush, you. I need clean clothes. We can’t all be so lucky to not have to worry about that like you.” He followed her while she changed her clothes over to the dryer. “Just be thankful we live here with Blake and not where I used to be,” she explained to the cat. “You wouldn’t have liked it there.”

Shroud meowed. 

“We wouldn’t be able to relax like we can here. All of the time we spend on the couch? Wouldn’t happen,” Weiss continued. “It was also a lot lonelier. Huge house like that with people constantly gone. Work, classes, social functions, business trips. Nobody around to take care of you like Blake does here.” 

Shroud jumped up to sit on top of the dryer as Weiss worked. 

“I wasn’t happy there, at least. I had to do a lot to try and make other people happy.” She wiped a hand on her shirt to dry it off some before reaching to scratch at Shroud’s back and ears. “Couldn’t do anything to make myself happy. Only others,” she sighed and got on the tips of her toes to grab the dryer sheets from the shelf over the machines. Single sheet tossed in, she backed up to nudge the door shut with her leg before hitting the button to start. 

Weiss didn’t have to do anything but step out of the way for Shroud to know it was time to leave the laundry closet. She was able to slide the doors closed and muffle some of the sounds from the dryer. 

Bzzt!

That sound. Where did it come from? Weiss briskly walked into the front room to see her phone flashing a light to tell her a message came in. Who was…? Did Blake need something? Or was this Pyrrha trying to get her to go somewhere else? 

Neither.

It was Yang. 

‘Are you free Friday? I can take you to check out the yard sale stuff after work that day.’

Weiss furrowed her brow. It hurt her brain to think that far ahead. There was still so much to do. She had to do. Blake would be home later. They would be home later. Weiss needed to make sure that she didn’t disappoint them.

The kitchen. She was sweeping. She needed to finish. 

Weiss rushed back to the kitchen and fumbled grabbing the dustpan from the counter. It took three sweeps to pile everything onto it and she dumped it in the trash. With that, she thought, the kitchen was done. This left the front room and the bathroom. 

Already her body ached. Did she want to keep going? Not particularly. Weiss sighed and balled her hands up. But she needed to keep busy because something was wrong. 

Shroud wouldn’t leave Weiss alone. Everywhere she went, he followed. Every time she stopped, he would rub against her leg and meow at her. When she moved, he moved. And just when she was heading to the kitchen to gather the cleaning products to start on the front room, he ran circles around her feet which made her slow down. 

“Will you… Stop?” she huffed and glared at him. Shroud meowed in response. 

A loud buzz came from the living room again and Weiss’ shoulders dropped. Time to see what else people wanted. Trudging back into the front room, she grabbed her phone from the coffee table again and saw the message was from Blake this time. 

‘Hope you’re doing alright. I’m gonna stop by the store on my way home. Did you need anything?’

Weiss frowned. She was fine. Busy, but fine. Tired and busy, but fine. Okay, exhausted and driving herself halfway to a frenzy, but fine. 

‘I’m okay, and no.’ That was good, right? A solid enough reply. Got the point across. 

Apparently not since Blake messaged back within seconds. ‘Are you actually alright? Should I have someone check on you?’

Very frustrating. What was hard to understand? ‘Really, I’m okay. Maybe a little tired.’

‘I know when you say “a little tired” that you really mean ready to drop, so whatever you’re doing, stop it and relax. I’m going to be upset if you don’t.’

Weiss growled in frustration. That was a low blow. Playing the ‘upset’ card like that. She sighed in defeat. ‘Fine. I’ll take it easy.’

‘Good. I’ll be home later.’

That was that. Weiss really wanted to keep going, but Blake was right. She was feeling ready to drop. Mentally and physically exhausted, the former causing the latter. When she looked down, she noticed Shroud simply sitting and staring up at her. “What?” she asked and he only tilted his head. “Fine. I’ll sit down. You and Blake both, I swear,” she muttered, crossing the room to the couch and flopping onto it, thoughts of getting up again already crossing her mind. Shroud hopped up onto the couch next to her and climbed on her legs to lay down.

  


* * *

  


Yang was barely two steps in the door to her house before she was stripping off her work shirt and haphazardly throwing it at a growing pile of dirty laundry in the corner of the front room. Since her trailer didn’t have its own washer and dryer, she took her clothes next door to the main house to do her laundry, and keeping a laundry basket in the front room seemed… easier? Lazier, at least. 

She was heading to her bedroom to change her clothes while tapping out a message to Weiss. She had waited a day before sending one because that seemed the best course of action. Being too eager may cause her to come across as aggressive and that was- Yang sighed. That was part of what the issue with Neo had been. Being excited and passionate got misconstrued as aggressive, overeager, and 'too much.’ Nora told her that it was most likely just an excuse to end the relationship, but it still hurt. They had gotten along really well, she thought. And maybe Yang did seem enthusiastic about things. She shouldn’t see it as a bad thing. Just a bad fit. But that was over with. She was no longer feeling broken about it, and the times she’d ran into Neo recently seemed to be friendly enough. 

It was fine, she told herself. Actually fine, not sarcastic fine, she added. Little confused, but overall doing good. 

The message to Weiss, right. That’s what she was doing. Yang looked around to see she had stopped walking and stood, shirtless, in the middle of the front room. Going to the bedroom, too, she reminded herself. 

But Weiss, though. ‘Are you free Friday? I can take you to check out the yard sale stuff after work that day.’

When she passed into her bedroom, she tossed her phone onto her bed before walking to her dresser. It didn’t take her long to pull out a clean tee-shirt to put on. With the rest of the day free, she wondered what to do. Ruby was closing. Her mom and mam were still at work, though they would be off soon. But did she want to spend the day with them? All of the teasing her mam would have in store for her definitely wasn’t something she wanted to deal with, not when she was waiting to hear back from Weiss. Though… that wasn’t a date. It’s not a date. It’s simply letting a friend have their first pick of yard sale stuff. 

Yang hummed in thought. She hadn’t worked on her motorcycle in a while. It definitely was getting closer to being finished, but some key pieces still needed to be tracked down. That seemed a good of a plan as any. The frame needed more buffing with steel wool before she could prime it anyway. May as well get started. She grabbed her phone and slipped it into her pocket before heading out the door. 

In the garage, laid out over a large drop cloth, her motorcycle lay in pieces. Not wasting any time, she walked over and grabbed the pack of steel wool from the workbench, and plopped herself down on the ground. A quick glance around told her all she needed about what parts still needed to be cleaned up and which ones didn’t. 

Scrubbing at the metal with wire brushes and steel wool felt therapeutic. The repetitive motion of it and tiring feeling that settled into her muscles as she worked intently on the task left her with a mostly blank mind. It was as close to meditation that Yang managed to do anymore, and she always walked away feeling better. Calmer. Tired and with sore arms, but definitely worth it since it was that much closer to having her motorcycle. 

She found a rhythm in the scrubbing. A pattern of four scrubs, four scrubs, then five, and repeat. Over and over. Bits of old paint, rust, and dirt flaked off onto the cloth as she worked. Seeing the clean metal afterward made Yang happy. Progress being made. 

An unknown amount of time passed, but if Yang had to guess, close to an hour. Her arms ached. The only reason she stopped, though, was the soft vibration of her phone in her pocket. She dropped her tools next to her and looked around for a shop towel to wipe her hands off with. The roll of tough, blue towels was just out of reach and she had to get up to grab it. 

“See who’s messaging me,” she mumbled to herself, feeling her hands were adequately cleaned. Oh? Weiss replied? 

‘Friday sounds good. What time should I meet you?’

Yang smiled and quickly replied. ‘I’m off at 1. I can swing by your place and get you, or you can meet me at the restaurant. Whichever is easier.’

‘I can meet you at the restaurant.’

Yang’s smile grew into a grin.

  


* * *

  


Blake closed the door behind them as they entered the apartment. Work had been busy, but not overwhelmingly so. Thankfully. They managed to get out without any major hiccups, which was nice, and since it hadn’t been too late, they got to swing by the store on the way home. 

They knew Weiss had been in a mood of sorts from how she replied earlier, but they didn’t expect it to be so… Blake sighed. The room looked spotless. Weiss’ laundry was done and folded neatly in her suitcase, the lid left open since it couldn’t quite close anymore. They didn’t need to go into the kitchen to know it would be the same, and it looked to be clear Weiss hadn't stopped when they told her to. She always did this when something bothered her, Blake learned. They didn’t know what it was, and Weiss wasn’t one to readily share such things with them, so all they could do was encourage her to talk with her therapist at her next appointment. 

Still… 

Laying on the couch, looking entirely worse for wear and in a dead sleep, Weiss curled in a ball. Shroud lay nestled against her and idly watched Blake as they moved about the room. 

“Did you at least look out for her?” Blake asked in a hushed tone but got no reply from their cat. “I bet you’re hungry. Come on, let’s get dinner going,” they sighed. 

As they suspected, the kitchen looked cleaner than it had been in a long while. The sight would be more welcome if the cost wasn’t so upsetting. They set the bags from the shop down and checked the kettle to ensure it still had water from earlier before turning the burner on. Only a moment later, Shroud sauntered into the kitchen and let out a soft meow while taking a seat to stare expectantly up at Blake. 

“Right, you want food, too,” they rolled their eyes. “You know the drill. It’s going to be a few minutes.” The warning went unheeded as Shroud meowed again while watching Blake swap the bags and turn on the sink. 

Overall, the process of preparing food for Shroud, making tea, and cooking dinner took less time than Blake anticipated, though they supposed that could have to do with not needing to wash anything beforehand. The longest part had been cooking the rice, and even then it took just under an hour. They brought a bowl and mug into the front room to set on the coffee table. 

Still fast asleep on the couch, Weiss curled tighter into a ball. Blake almost didn’t want to wake her, but they knew she most likely hadn’t eaten anything yet, and that meant she couldn’t take her evening meds yet, either. 

“Hey,” Blake whispered, crouching next to the couch. “Weiss.”

No response. 

Blake set a hand on Weiss’ arm and the girl stirred slightly. “It’s time to eat,” they explained. 

Weiss whined and tried to cover her face with the pillow.

“It’s dinner time,” Blake tried again.

This time Weiss responded with a sleepy groan and blinked her eyes. “Hmm?” she hummed in confusion. “What time is it?”

“It’s a little after seven,” Blake smiled. “I made food. And tea. You should eat something, though.”

Weiss squeezed her eyes shut and let out an annoyed groan before pushing herself upright. “I must have passed out,” she mumbled and rubbed at her eyes. 

“It’s alright. You’ve got food and tea on the table. Nothing fancy, just veggies and salmon over rice,” Blake shrugged, standing up. 

“Thank you,” Weiss yawned. 

Blake walked into the kitchen to make themself a bowl as well. Looking after Weiss became almost a job in and of itself, but they didn’t mind. Caring for her felt a lot like caring for a sister they never had, and the company around the house was definitely appreciated. Though even if looking after her seemed like another job, it never felt like work. Little gestures, like making extra food, or tea, gentle reminders when Weiss surely forgot things… It’s what family did for each other. Weiss was family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!
> 
> So... I am Bad™ about judging my moods and productivity. I'm doing my best though. Writing goes slow, and I have been neglecting my uploads and keeping a consistent schedule. And, I know it's not important. I can work on things in my own time. But with the pandemic and not being able to leave and go do things (despite my state's insistence on opening everything and ignoring health guidelines), not having consistency has been difficult. 
> 
> It does mean a lot to me that you all have stuck with this and have been patient with me. Thank you. 
> 
> Anyway!  
> I hope you liked this chapter. This was actually the chapter that I realized I unintentionally gave Weiss my bipolar disorder instead of simply anxiety and depression. It wasn't until someone else read it and asked me about Weiss' behavior that I started to put the pieces together about what happened. Rapid cycling hypomanic episodes like this of near overwhelming restless energy, irritability, racing thoughts, and that _something_ that just... makes you feel on a knife's edge. And then the hard crash after. It was something that happened to me many times in the past and, even though I knew I have bipolar II, when I was writing I didn't put the pieces together for some reason. 
> 
> Again, thank you for reading. I hope you're all doing well. I'll try and get the next chapter up in a more reasonable time. ♥


End file.
